Trump’s New Strategy on Epstein Fallout: Blame the Democrats

When President Trump failed to quickly end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as he promised to do, he blamed his predecessor, President Joseph R. Biden Jr., and claimed the conflict was “Biden’s war.”

In May, when he received a mix of good and bad economic news, Mr. Trump said the “good parts” of the economy were his, while the “bad parts” belonged to the previous administration.

Now, with an uproar on the right over the Trump administration’s refusal to release portions of the files related to an investigation of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Mr. Trump is once again returning to an old playbook: Blame the Democrats.

In recent days, Mr. Trump has tried to rewrite the history of both the Epstein files and the outrage over them. In his telling, no longer are the files part of an alleged coverup, but instead they are a “hoax” and smear campaign by Democrats against his administration.

No longer is the outrage over his administration’s handling of the files originating from the right, but, in this new reality, the anger is a ploy cooked up by the left.

In a blistering social media post Wednesday morning, Mr. Trump took aim at his supporters who are upset with the administration’s handling of files related to Mr. Epstein, whose connections to politicians and wealthy figures have been a subject of intense interest among vocal portions of his base.

Mr. Trump said those critics are “PAST supporters” who were being taken in, “hook, line, and sinker.” He also claimed that outrage over the Justice Department’s decision to not release additional information and close the investigation was just the latest “scam” cooked up by Democrats.

“Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work,” he wrote, “don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore!”

It was a familiar political move for Mr. Trump that has worked with his base in the past, but so far has not achieved its desired effect.

While some conservatives indicated they would take Mr. Trump’s advice and move on from the Epstein case, a backlash has continued to brew nonetheless.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia and perhaps the leading MAGA voice in Congress, said she planned to join with Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, in backing legislation demanding the release of the files.

“I am proudly cosponsoring and will sign the discharge petition,” she wrote on X. “I will never protect pedophiles or the elites and their circles.”

Michael T. Flynn, Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser and an influential figure in the MAGA movement, also called out the president’s response on social media, suggesting there might a wide-ranging conspiracy involving Mr. Epstein and the federal government.

“It is NOT about Epstein or the left. It is about committing crimes against CHILDREN,” he wrote. “If he were part of an intel operation known or run by our CIA (shame on them),” he said, or if a foreign nation or “elites inside of our country” were involved, those parties “MUST be held ACCOUNTABLE.”

Mr. Trump for years has vacillated between fanning the theories of widespread criminality involving Mr. Epstein and downplaying them.

“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Mr. Trump told New York magazine in 2002. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”

But by 2019, after Mr. Epstein’s death in prison, Mr. Trump said he and Mr. Epstein had had a “falling out,” hadn’t spoken in 15 years and declared himself “not a fan.”

Over the years, Mr. Trump at times seemed to promote the idea that rich and powerful people had engaged in nefarious behavior with Mr. Epstein, and might soon face justice. Of former President Bill Clinton, he said: “Got a lot of problems coming up in my opinion with the famous island with Jeffrey Epstein.”

“I want a full investigation, and that’s what I absolutely am demanding,” Mr. Trump said of the Epstein case in 2019.

But he also expressed sympathy for Ghislaine Maxwell, Mr. Epstein’s former girlfriend, who is imprisoned after being convicted of conspiring to aid in his abuse of teenage girls.

In an interview with Jonathan Swan, then of Axios, on HBO in 2020, Mr. Trump said he wished Ms. Maxwell well.

“I do wish her well. I’m not looking for anything bad for her,” he said.

While running for office in 2024, Mr. Trump expressed mixed feelings about whether he would release the Epstein files.

“I guess I would,” he told Fox News, before beginning to back off. “I think that less so because you don’t want to affect people’s lives if it’s phony stuff in there, because it’s a lot of phony stuff with that whole world. But I think I would.”

Upon taking office, Mr. Trump appointed leaders of the Justice Department and F.B.I. who had promised right-wing base they would be getting to the bottom of the Epstein investigation.

But after leading on the base, the Justice Department and the F.B.I. said that the Epstein files did not contain the kind of evidence that would justify investigating other people. The video recordings of child sexual abuse material found by investigators were not videos that Mr. Epstein recorded of crimes by himself or his friends, but material he downloaded, Attorney General Pam Bondi said.

Mr. Trump has also said Ms. Bondi should release only “credible” information.

Still, with the backlash from the right continuing to fester, Mr. Trump has repeatedly lashed out at those who continue to question him; so far, few seemed to be taking his advice and blaming the Democrats.

“I don’t understand why they would be so interested,” Mr. Trump told reporters Tuesday. “He’s dead for a long time. He was never a big factor in terms of life. I don’t understand what the interest or what the fascination is, I really don’t.”

Adblock test (Why?)