Let's see where we are today in the Trump/Epstein MAGAsaga.
Big breath.
A couple of days ago...
Called her to object? I believe he called her to threaten.
Okay, before we go further, this story is in The Wall Street Journal. That's owned by Rupert Murdoch, who also owns Fox News. The Journal explains that there were two arcs in the drawing denoting the female's breasts, and that "below the waist" was actually Trump's signature where you would expect pubic hair.Donald Trump wrote a birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein in the early 2000s in which the future president, addressing the future convicted sex offender, noted that “we have certain things in common.” The existence of the letter was reported today by The Wall Street Journal, which obtained documents pertaining to a 2003 album put together for Epstein’s 50th birthday by his partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, also now a convicted sex offender.
The Journal notes that the letter bearing Trump’s name was outlined by a drawing of a naked woman, and that the woman appeared to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker. Trump’s signature, as “Donald,” appears below the woman’s waist.
Rolling Stone
The letter part of it was a somewhat cryptic script:
Voiceover: There must be more to life than having everything.
Donald: Yes, there is, but I won’t tell you what it is.
Jeffrey: Nor will I, since I also know what it is.
Donald: We have certain things in common, Jeffrey.
Jeffrey: Yes, we do, come to think of it.
Donald: Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?
Jeffrey: As a matter of fact, it was clear to me the last time I saw you.
Trump: A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.
Well, we know he "wrote a picture" before. In fact, several of them were auctioned "for charity". (I expect the money went into Trump's "charitable foundation" which was, in recent years, shut down by court order because it wasn't charitable.Trump denied he wrote the letter. [...] “I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women. It’s not my language. It’s not my words.”
He does in fact sue everyone. I didn't think he'd actually do it, because, you know, discovery. More on the threat later.Trump said he would sue the Journal [NewsCorp, and Mr. Murdoch] if they published a story on the letter. “I’m gonna sue The Wall Street Journal just like I sued everyone else,” the president said.
As a matter of fact, it sounds exactly like Trump.[Trump] called the story “false, malicious, and defamatory” and described the Journal as a “Disgusting and Filthy Rag.”
Vice President J.D. Vance sprang to Trump’s defense tonight. “Forgive my language but this story is complete and utter bullshit. The WSJ should be ashamed for publishing it,” Vice President J.D. Vance wrote on X. “Where is this letter? Would you be shocked to learn they never showed it to us before publishing it? Does anyone honestly believe this sounds like Donald Trump?”
That's funny. But you have to have been following Popehat for a while to understand just how funny it is.
Also, be careful what you wish for - do you really want them to produce the letter?
Everywhere else. There's been hardly any news other than this. It has even consumed MAGA, who were so sure releasing the Epstein files would entrap elite Dems.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt alleged that the Journal “knowingly published false information to smear the President of the United States” and that the story is part of a “coordinated Hoax by the Democrats and Fake News to smear President Trump.”
[...]
One administration official describes the White House as having been “on a fucking warpath” in its pressure campaign against the conservative newspaper, working different contacts and angles in an attempt to get the outlet to drop the story. This official notes this was rated a top “priority” by Trump and dominated various conversations within the West Wing and elsewhere this week.
Yes, he called them stupid. Pretty sure that's not going to help his cause.Trump has responded by claiming repeatedly that former President Barack Obama and other Democrats fabricated the Epstein files, while attacking his supporters for being duped by what the president is now calling a “hoax.”
And he chose the worst. He posted super lengthy, desperate rants on "Truth Social". And actually filed that threatened lawsuit. Not smart.Multiple Trump advisers and others in the president’s political orbit concede that the president’s sustained endeavor to snuff out the story has only made it seem more important. “It’s been weighing on him,” another administration source says. “The president wanted multiple options, legal too, explored for what he could do to stop or hit back against the story.”
The desperation that must have taken hold of what's left of his mind surely is great if he's willing to admit he has a health issue in hopes of distracting attention from the drawing. (He hasn't admitted to the issue with his hand that makes him put makeup on it. I wonder if this is the same issue that McConnell had for which we never got an explanation. Trump's people are saying it's bruises from vigorous handshakes. Eyeroll.)
All the money in the world, and he can't match his skin color? Sad.
Anyway, Trump's been trying to bleat his way through it all.
Little Donnie trying to help.
Polling conducted last month found that a majority of Americans, about 79 per cent, support full disclosure of any names linked to Epstein's criminal proceedings, The Independent reported. Analysts say this could present a risk to Trump if his stance is viewed as dismissive or evasive during a key election period.
International Business Times
It could just as easily be that some "national emergency" will "force" Trump to call off the elections.
He still can't get a good lawyer.The new lawsuit calls the letter “nonexistent,” setting the stage for the likely exposure of a letter that so far has only been described but not seen.
[...]
Setting aside its main focus, Trump’s lawsuit veers off into odd directions.
In one paragraph, his lawyer Alejandro Brito offers a strange definition of a journalistic “exclusive.”
“The Article was published in The Wall Street Journal as an exclusive,” the complaint says. “However, since publication, Defendants have widely disseminated it to hundreds of millions of people worldwide.”
The lawsuit says it was “implicitly defamatory” for the Journal to report that Trump was Epstein’s “friend” or “pal,” but Trump spoke about his then-15-year-old relationship with Epstein in a New York Magazine profile from 2003.
Adam Klasfeld Substack
The lawsuit itself.Through the lawsuit, Trump has invited scrutiny about his relationship with Epstein in court. The newspaper’s parent company Dow Jones expressed full confidence in their reporting, which suggests that the letter and could come to light and be authenticated during litigation.
Does he think depositions and testimony apply to only one side in a lawsuit?
For all of Trump’s transgressions—trying to overturn election results, inciting an insurrectionist mob, pilfering top secret documents, forging business records to hide a hush-money deal with a porn star, being branded a sexual assaulter by a jury, lying constantly, recklessly demolishing necessary government services, engaging in assorted corruption—the Epstein affair is the first episode to cause fissures in his cultlike base and prompt serious criticism of Trump from his MAGA devotees. The reason is clear: For years, the right wing has been pushing the fringe narrative that a corrupt elite that controls the nation (and the world) comprises a cabal of pedophilic and cannibalistic satanists and globalists who engage in sex trafficking. As his MAGA followers see it, now Trump, by not releasing materials in the government’s Epstein case files, is protecting these evildoers and is in league with the high-and-mighty scum of the earth.
[...]
The idea that a group of flesh-eating child molesters runs the world has been around a while. In 2012, conspiracy-monger Alex Jones showed up at a meeting in Chantilly, Virginia, of the Bilderberg Group, an assembly of political leaders, government officials, and corporate titans from North America and Europe, and accused its members of eating “roasted babies wrapped in gold foil.” Presumably, the gold foil was removed before consumption. (Never forget: Jones attended the GOP convention in 2016 wearing a VIP pass.) And Republicans in years past have tried to whip up a scandal over Bill Clinton’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. (Clinton associated with Epstein and flew on his private jet, but he has denied ever visiting Epstein’s private island or being aware of his criminal activity.) Yet none of this gained much traction—not even on the right.
Then came Pizzagate.
In November 2016, Reddit and 4chan users began circulating what they claimed was evidence showing that top Democrats tied to the Clintons were running a human trafficking and child sex ring out of the basement of a Washington, DC, pizzeria (that has no basement). The bogus claim spread to Twitter and a variety of right-wing websites. Prominent alt-right activists pushed this puerile bunk, including Mike Cernovich and Jack Posobiec (now a top MAGA influencer who hangs out with Trump Cabinet members). This led to a 28-year-old North Carolina gunman showing up at the restaurant to rescue the children presumably held captive there. He fired three shots. No one was injured. He was arrested.
[...]
Pizzagate petered out, but it laid the foundation for a more sweeping version of the pedo-elites narrative: QAnon.
In October 2017, an anonymous 4chan user who called himself “Q Clearance Patriot”—meaning he had access to top secret information—began posting information suggesting the existence of a global cabal of satanic, cannibalistic pedophiles who were in cahoots with the so-called Deep State and operating an international child sex ring. The conspirators included the usual suspects: Hollywood celebrities, the Clintons, and liberal philanthropist George Soros. In Q’s telling, Trump was heroically waging a secret battle against this nefarious force.
[...]
The essence of QAnon—a sexually perverted and criminal elite is in charge behind the scenes—became a core component of Republican and MAGA reality.
[...]
And Trump seemed to endorse QAnon when he reposted on social media an image of himself wearing a Q lapel pin and the QAnon slogan “The Storm is Coming,” which was shorthand for the day when Trump would round up all the sex trafficking globalists. (Imprisonment and executions would presumably follow.)
[...]
For MAGA, the Epstein case became a concrete manifestation of its dark fantasy. Epstein was a sex-trafficking pedo who associated with financiers and establishment institutions (Harvard! MIT!) and he hobnobbed with the rich and powerful (Bill Clinton, and, oh yeah, Trump). He was the proof.
For years, MAGA cheerleaders and grifters—Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, Don Trump Jr., JD Vance—have pointed to the Epstein case as evidence of the foul corruption of the system. They claimed there was a cover-up, and demanded the release of information, asserting this would reveal and annihilate the vile power structure ruining America.
[...]
By denying that there’s nothing else to investigate in the Epstein case and that its files do not contain the Rosetta Stone of the grand pedo-elites scandal, Trump is telling his devotees that they had been wrong to believe all this—despite his own crew’s previous efforts to give credence to and exploit this conspiracy theory. He is calling them suckers. Naturally, they feel betrayed. As they see it, Trump is protecting the satanic sex traffickers of children. As if he might be...one of them. To make it worse, Trump told his supporters to let it go, and he denigrated those pushing the “Epstein hoax” as fools and idiots.
As of now, MAGA influencers are still calling for the release of all the Epstein files. Some are urging the firing of Attorney General Pam Bondi. It's unclear if this storm in MAGA-land will eventually blow over or yield a consequential rift in Trump’s base. It certainly has caused the worst political headache for Trump since he returned to the White House. He, of course, has no one to blame but himself.
Mother Jones
[...]
The idea that a group of flesh-eating child molesters runs the world has been around a while. In 2012, conspiracy-monger Alex Jones showed up at a meeting in Chantilly, Virginia, of the Bilderberg Group, an assembly of political leaders, government officials, and corporate titans from North America and Europe, and accused its members of eating “roasted babies wrapped in gold foil.” Presumably, the gold foil was removed before consumption. (Never forget: Jones attended the GOP convention in 2016 wearing a VIP pass.) And Republicans in years past have tried to whip up a scandal over Bill Clinton’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. (Clinton associated with Epstein and flew on his private jet, but he has denied ever visiting Epstein’s private island or being aware of his criminal activity.) Yet none of this gained much traction—not even on the right.
Then came Pizzagate.
In November 2016, Reddit and 4chan users began circulating what they claimed was evidence showing that top Democrats tied to the Clintons were running a human trafficking and child sex ring out of the basement of a Washington, DC, pizzeria (that has no basement). The bogus claim spread to Twitter and a variety of right-wing websites. Prominent alt-right activists pushed this puerile bunk, including Mike Cernovich and Jack Posobiec (now a top MAGA influencer who hangs out with Trump Cabinet members). This led to a 28-year-old North Carolina gunman showing up at the restaurant to rescue the children presumably held captive there. He fired three shots. No one was injured. He was arrested.
[...]
Pizzagate petered out, but it laid the foundation for a more sweeping version of the pedo-elites narrative: QAnon.
In October 2017, an anonymous 4chan user who called himself “Q Clearance Patriot”—meaning he had access to top secret information—began posting information suggesting the existence of a global cabal of satanic, cannibalistic pedophiles who were in cahoots with the so-called Deep State and operating an international child sex ring. The conspirators included the usual suspects: Hollywood celebrities, the Clintons, and liberal philanthropist George Soros. In Q’s telling, Trump was heroically waging a secret battle against this nefarious force.
[...]
The essence of QAnon—a sexually perverted and criminal elite is in charge behind the scenes—became a core component of Republican and MAGA reality.
[...]
And Trump seemed to endorse QAnon when he reposted on social media an image of himself wearing a Q lapel pin and the QAnon slogan “The Storm is Coming,” which was shorthand for the day when Trump would round up all the sex trafficking globalists. (Imprisonment and executions would presumably follow.)
[...]
For MAGA, the Epstein case became a concrete manifestation of its dark fantasy. Epstein was a sex-trafficking pedo who associated with financiers and establishment institutions (Harvard! MIT!) and he hobnobbed with the rich and powerful (Bill Clinton, and, oh yeah, Trump). He was the proof.
For years, MAGA cheerleaders and grifters—Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, Don Trump Jr., JD Vance—have pointed to the Epstein case as evidence of the foul corruption of the system. They claimed there was a cover-up, and demanded the release of information, asserting this would reveal and annihilate the vile power structure ruining America.
[...]
By denying that there’s nothing else to investigate in the Epstein case and that its files do not contain the Rosetta Stone of the grand pedo-elites scandal, Trump is telling his devotees that they had been wrong to believe all this—despite his own crew’s previous efforts to give credence to and exploit this conspiracy theory. He is calling them suckers. Naturally, they feel betrayed. As they see it, Trump is protecting the satanic sex traffickers of children. As if he might be...one of them. To make it worse, Trump told his supporters to let it go, and he denigrated those pushing the “Epstein hoax” as fools and idiots.
As of now, MAGA influencers are still calling for the release of all the Epstein files. Some are urging the firing of Attorney General Pam Bondi. It's unclear if this storm in MAGA-land will eventually blow over or yield a consequential rift in Trump’s base. It certainly has caused the worst political headache for Trump since he returned to the White House. He, of course, has no one to blame but himself.
Mother Jones
To be continued, no doubt.
UPDATE 01:40 pm:
UPDATE 07/23/2025: Elie Mystal is not moved.
Seems likely.The Epstein files—and Donald Trump’s refusal to release many of them—have dominated the news cycle for the better part of two weeks. The issue is… I don’t care. I refuse to care. I think liberals have worked themselves up into a tizzy over a potential rift between Trump and his MAGA base—as if the racists and bigots who have made supporting Trump their entire personality will abandon him now. They won’t. Trump and MAGA will kiss and make up and find that the real problem was Democrats or gay people or immigrants or fluoride.
Elie Mystal newsletter
UPDATE 07/23/2025:
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