'He just gets angry': Trump insiders spill that president is keeping Epstein story alive
President Donald Trump can't move past his longtime association with Jeffrey Epstein, and his allies suggested that he's botching his response.
A huge batch of emails written by the late sex offender got dumped into public view Wednesday by the House Oversight Committee, shedding new light on the president's relationship with Epstein, and members of Trump's inner circle told Axios why they believe the scandal lingers on.
"The minute he thinks it's unfair to him and it's a personal attack, he just goes into fight mode," said one confidant. "No one wants to ask him what's going on here [with Epstein] because he just gets angry."
Trump famously has been able to skate past scandals – Epstein mentions that penchant in one email, marveling that his "strength is remarkable" – but some controversies have clung tighter to him due to his attempts to shut them down.
"Whether it's a question about the current affordability crisis, COVID in 2020 or the Russia probe in 2017, he has a penchant for pushing back against attacks by calling them Democratic hoaxes or con jobs," Axios reported. "He then tries to kill the controversy with such a heavy hand that it helps keep the story alive."
The Epstein files exploded into controversy because Trump and his top officials – including Vice President JD Vance, FBI director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi – promised to release them during the 2024 campaign, but the president inflamed his MAGA base by locking them down after returning to the White House.
"He told Pam not to release the files," said a Trump insider. "We don't exactly know why."
Trump was first elected to office by hyping the WikiLeaks release of emails that impugned Hillary Clinton in the weeks before the 2016 vote, and Axios noted the similarities between that scandal and the Epstein files.
"As in this case, the emails showed no clear sign of wrongdoing by the intended target," Axios reported. "But the fact that there was such a big volume of behind-the-scenes details ensured the story dominated media coverage and social media, creating the appearance of a scandal. And appearance can be reality in politics."