Trump slams his own supporters as 'weaklings' for falling for what he
now calls the Epstein 'hoax'
[July 17, 2025]
By JILL COLVIN
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump is lashing out at his own
supporters, accusing them of being duped by Democrats, as he tries to
clamp down on criticism over his administration's handling of much-hyped
records in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation, which
Trump now calls a “Hoax.”
“Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax,
and my PAST supporters have bought into this “bull——,” hook, line, and
sinker,” Trump wrote Wednesday on his Truth Social site, using an
expletive in his post. “They haven’t learned their lesson, and probably
never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long
years.”
“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!” he went on. There is no
evidence former Democratic officials tampered with the documents or
played any role in promoting conspiracies about the files, which members
of Trump's administration stoked for years.
The rhetoric marks a dramatic escalation for the Republican president,
who has broken with some of his most loyal backers on issues in the
past, but never with such fervor. Though Trump cannot legally run for
another term, he will need strong support from a united party to pass
his remaining legislative agenda in a narrowly-divided Congress and an
energized base to turn out in next year's midterm elections.
Dangled documents
The schism centers on the administration's handling of documents related
to Epstein, who was found dead in his New York jail cell in August 2019,
weeks after his arrest on sex trafficking charges. Last week, the
Justice Department and the FBI acknowledged in a memo that Epstein did
not maintain a “client list" to whom underage girls were trafficked.
They also said no more files related to the investigation would be made
public, despite past promises from Attorney General Pam Bondi that had
raised the expectations of conservative influencers and conspiracy
theorists.
“It’s a new administration and everything is going to come out to the
public," she had said.
The reversal sparked fury among Trump's most loyal defenders, who have
turned on Bondi, in particular. But Trump has repeatedly said he
maintains confidence in his attorney general and has instead chided
those who continue to press the issue.
“I don’t understand what the interest or what the fascination is,” he
said Tuesday, after unsuccessfully urging his “'boys' and, in some
cases, ‘gals’” to stop wasting "Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein,
somebody that nobody cares about."
In an Oval Office appearance Wednesday after the Truth post, Trump said
he had “lost a lot of faith in certain people" as he tried to turn the
page on the story.
“It’s all been a big hoax,” he told reporters. “It’s perpetrated by the
Democrats, and some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into
the net.”
He complained that Bondi has been “waylaid” over her handling of the
case and has given out all “credible information” about the wealthy
financier. “If she finds anymore credible information she’ll give that,
too,” Trump said. ”What more can she do than that?”
He continued to complain in a pre-taped interview with John Solomon that
aired Wednesday evening on Real America’s Voice that the issue was
distracting from his accomplishments.
“All my supporters want to talk about is the Jeffrey Epstein hoax. It's
unbelievable,” he said. “It's a disgrace. ... I’m going to remember."
While Trump has tried to blame Democrats for making Epstein an issue, he
and many figures in his administration, including FBI Director Kash
Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino, spent years stoking dark and
disproved conspiracy theories like those surrounding Epstein, including
embracing QAnon-tinged propaganda that casts Trump as a savior sent to
demolish the “deep state.”
Anger still brewing
Trump's comments have not been enough to quell those who are still
demanding answers. Some of the podcasters and pro-Trump influencers who
helped rally support for Trump in the 2024 campaign said Wednesday they
were disappointed or puzzled by his comments.
Far-right conspiracy theorist and podcaster Alex Jones called Trump’s
handling of the Epstein situation “the biggest train wreck I’ve ever
seen.”
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President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Bahrain's Crown
Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa in the Oval Office of the White
House, Wednesday, July 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex
Brandon)
“It’s not in character for you to be acting like this,” he said in a
video Tuesday. “I support you, but we built the movement you rode in
on. You’re not the movement. You just surfed in on it.”
Benny Johnson, a conservative podcaster, said on his show that he is
a fan of Trump’s movement but is trying to “give tough love and
speak on behalf of the base.”
“Maybe it hasn’t been framed correctly for the president,” Johnson
said. “I don’t know.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., in an interview on Benny
Johnson's show Tuesday, had called for the Justice Department to
“put everything out there and let the people decide.”
His first-term national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael
Flynn implored Trump in a lengthy message to correct course.
“All we want at this stage is for a modicum of trust to be
reestablished between our federal government and the people it is
designed to serve. That’s all (PERIOD!)," he wrote. “With my
strongest recommendation, please gather your team and figure out a
way to move past this.”
Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on his podcast attempted some
damage control on Trump’s behalf.
“Don’t take too seriously this whole Truth Social here,” Kirk told
his audience. “I know some people are getting fired up about this. I
don’t believe he was trying to insult anybody personally.”
Still, he expressed frustration about the administration's handling
of the issue.
“We are now Wednesday going into Thursday. People are very, very
confused, and some people are very disappointed and mad,” Kirk said.
“We made so much progress with Gen Z, and this is a big
vulnerability. Online, on TikTok, this story is not landing well.
Let’s fix this, and we can.”
Other Trump allies have stuck by his side, suggesting he does not
need the influencers who have capitalized on Epstein conspiracy
theories to make money and earn viewers.
“He lent you his clout and voters,” Brenden Dilley, the head of a
group of meme makers who have lent their support to Trump, wrote on
X on Wednesday. “They don’t belong to you.”
Broader disapproval
While those speaking out represent a fringe of Trump's most vocal
online base, they are not the only ones dissatisfied with the
government’s handling of the Epstein case, according to recent
polling.
A CNN/SSRS poll, for instance, found that about half of U.S. adults
are not satisfied with the amount of information the federal
government has released about the Epstein case. About 3 in 10 said
it doesn’t matter either way and about 2 in 10 didn’t know enough to
offer an opinion. Almost no one said they were satisfied with the
amount of information released.
Looking ahead to 2026 midterm elections, some Democrats are
clear-eyed that the Epstein files may not be a front-and-center
issue for voters who tend to put a premium on kitchen table issues,
but they see it as part of a broader pattern that could hamper Trump
and the GOP.
“There is something breaking through to voters getting at this idea
of a Republican Party working for these big, corrupt, wealthy,
famous people and not fighting for their constituents,” said
Katarina Flicker of the House Majority PAC, Democrats’ super PAC for
congressional races.
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Associated Press writer Ali Swenson, Amelia Thomson DeVeaux in
Washington and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.
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