EXCLUSIVE: How Donald Trump Has Become 'Trapped' by Jeffrey Epstein MAGA Conspiracy Theory He Once Used to Batter Joe Biden
Donald Trump's life is all about Jeffrey Epstein now.
July 25 2025, Published 10:30 a.m. ET
Under-fire Donald Trump once promised to release every secret file related to Jeffrey Epstein, declaring on the campaign trail last year: "You don’t want to affect people’s lives if there’s phony stuff in there."
But now, having returned to the White House, the 79-year-old president is finding that the conspiracy theory he once fanned is threatening to engulf his own administration, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
MAGA Is Furious
Trump is now buried in Epstein drama.
At the heart of the drama is the death of Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
For years, Trump’s closest allies, many now in powerful roles, claimed Epstein kept a blackmail-ready client list, and that he was murdered to keep it from coming out. But earlier this month, a Justice Department memo concluded there was no such list, and no credible evidence of foul play.
Trump's base is not taking it lightly.
"People feel betrayed," said one former Trump campaign staffer. "They were promised the truth. Instead, they’re being told it was all a hoax."
Insiders also tell us the reversal has caused a "huge rift" among Trump's most loyal supporters, who for years rallied around the belief Epstein's files contained proof of elite depravity.
All A Hoax?
The president's response to the Epstein files, which he claimed Joe Biden made up, has left MAGA reeling.
In 2023, then-Trump aide and podcast regular Kash Patel had demanded Republicans "put on your big boy pants and let us know who the pedophiles are." Now 44 and serving as FBI director, Patel's silence is enraging the same audience he once stirred.
Dan Bongino, 49, now his deputy, had told his followers last year: "The Epstein client list is a huge deal." Recently, he told Fox News: "There’s no list, and Epstein killed himself."
Vice President JD Vance, 39, was also an early promoter. In October, he tweeted: "We need to release the Epstein list." This month, he downplayed the Wall Street Journal's report of a 2003 birthday message Trump allegedly sent to Epstein, calling it "media noise."
Trump's response has only deepened the sense of betrayal among his base.
After initially referring to the documents as "boring," he lashed out at critics, calling them "weaklings" and accusing former supporters of falling for the "Jeffrey Epstein hoax… hook, line, and sinker."
FBI Deputy Director, Dan Bongino, also claimed Epstein killed himself behind bars.
According to a senior adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity, the backlash "caught everyone off guard. They thought the base would move on." Instead, it has intensified.
"This feels like a cover-up," said a pro-Trump YouTuber with over 1 million subscribers. "Pam Bondi told us she had the list on her desk. Where is it?"
Bondi, 58, now serving as attorney general, did invite right-wing influencers to the White House earlier this year and handed out what she called the "first phase" of the Epstein files. But those documents contained no client names – only information already publicly available.
Alex Jones called the memo's conclusions "over the top sickening." Conservative influencer Liz Wheeler called the administration's handling of the matter "unforgivable."
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A recent poll showed only 3 percent of Americans are happy with what has been released pertaining to Epstein.
Far-right commentator Nick Fuentes said Trump had become a "joke." To stem the damage, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has said: "We should put everything out there and let the people decide it."
Trump later asked Bondi to unseal additional court documents, but stopped short of a full disclosure. A Reuters survey has found 68 percent of Americans believe the government is withholding key information about Epstein's clients.
A CNN poll showed only 3 percent are satisfied with what’s been released. The conspiracy that once boosted Trump now threatens to “swallow him whole,” a White House source told us.
