July 16, 2025.

After years of covering Donald J. Trump, I'm used to seeing stories that would have sunk any other president simply fade away as he hammers on to some new unprecedented action that dominates the news.

So I'm surprised by what appears to be the staying power of the recent Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

That Trump is panicked by the threat of the release of material concerning convicted sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein seems very clear.

After the backlash against the Department of

Justice's decision not to release any more information and to reiterate that Epstein died by suicide,

Trump tried first to downplay Epstein's importance and convince people to move on. When that blew up,

he posted a long screed on social media last

Saturday, saying the files were written by Democrats and other supposed enemies of his. This morning,

Trump posted another long message on social media, blaming radical left Democrats for creating the story of the Epstein files.

Their new scam is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein hoax, he wrote,

and then he turned on his own supporters for demanding the administration release the files.

My past supporters have bought into this bull-hook, line, and

sinker. They haven't learned their lesson and probably never will, even after being conned by the

lunatic left for eight long years. I have had more success in six months than perhaps any president in our country's history,

and all these people want to talk about, with strong prodding by the fake news and the success-starved

Dems, is the Jeffrey Epstein hoax. Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats' work.

Don't even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success

because I don't want their support anymore.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Make America great again.

Tellingly, Trump compared the Jeffrey Epstein hoax to the Russia, Russia, Russia scam itself,

...