Main voices in President Donald Trump’s MAGA base who had been important for days of the president and administration’s dealing with of the Epstein recordsdata at the moment are rallying to Trump’s protection following a narrative within the Wall Avenue Journal, and are celebrating the administration’s transfer to launch grand jury testimony, doubtlessly cooling the backlash amongst his supporters.
The administration angered a lot of Trump’s supporters when it introduced final week that it could not launch any further recordsdata on Jeffrey Epstein, the rich financier and convicted intercourse offender who died by suicide in jail in 2019, after earlier promising to take action.
Previous to becoming a member of the administration, Trump boosters like Kash Patel and Dan Bongino had stoked conspiracy theories about an Epstein “shopper listing” that allegedly included the names of rich Democratic elites. However elevated to management positions within the FBI, each Patel and Bongino signed off on a memo stating that no such listing existed — angering a few of Trump’s most vocal supporters.
That modified on Thursday, when the Wall Avenue Journal printed a letter it alleged Trump had despatched Epstein in 2003 for his fiftieth birthday. ABC Information has not been capable of verify the existence of the letter.
Trump, who had been pleasant with Epstein for round 15 years earlier than they’d a falling out in 2004, denied to the Journal that he had written the letter, and on Friday filed a defamation lawsuit towards the paper claiming damages of not lower than $10 billion.
Main Trump supporters rallied to the president’s facet.
Following the Journal article, MAGA voices who had been a few of Trump’s most vocal critics during the last week, together with Megyn Kelly, Charlie Kirk, Jack Posobiec, Laura Loomer, Benny Johnson and even Elon Musk rushed to defend the president.
Posobiec, a MAGA podcaster who had been one of many loudest voices pushing the Epstein concern, instructed former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, “We’re so again. Everyone seems to be firing on all cylinders. The MAGA motion is totally united behind this struggle.”
President Donald Trump raises his fist whereas boarding Air Drive One, as he departs for Pennsylvania, at Joint Base Andrews, Md., July 15, 2025.
Nathan Howard/Reuters
“We have now to be on offensive on a regular basis,” Bannon instructed his on-line viewers, saying of Trump, “They tried to really destroy him.”
Trump additionally introduced Thursday that he was asking Legal professional Normal Pam Bondi to “produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, topic to Court docket approval” in regard to the Epstein case — prompting accolades from supporters who had been pushing for the discharge of extra Epstein materials.
Johnson, one other MAGA podcaster, tweeted “victory” in response to the information.
Kirk, on his present, urged his viewers to “thank President Trump” for pushing his administration to launch the testimony.
“So for any of you within the viewers that had been a bit uneasy, that had been a bit anxious, I believe it is morally incumbent on you to say thanks President Trump, thanks for stepping up and for doing this,” Kirk mentioned. “Thanks President Trump, for fulfilling what you mentioned you had been going to do, as a result of he does deserve credit score.”
The Journal story seems to have redirected MAGA supporters’ criticism and unified them towards a well-known goal: the media. However whether or not the shift in help will maintain is unclear. Whereas figures like Kirk and Bannon have framed the grand jury promise as a serious win, the discharge of the testimony itself may take time, as officers should first assess its affect on victims then win the approval of a federal choose.
And since the grand jury transcripts characterize solely a small fraction of the recordsdata on Epstein, it is unclear if the contents will fulfill members of Trump’s base who’ve been demanding the discharge of all Epstein supplies. The final time the administration launched Epstein-related recordsdata in February, the transfer sparked additional questions and contributed to the backlash the president and his administration are nonetheless coping with in the present day.
For now, although, Kirk mentioned on his present that “it was very enjoyable to see” the MAGA base rallying round Trump following the publication of the Journal’s story.
Seemingly to underscore the purpose, Kirk opened his present with a snippet of Joe Cocker’s efficiency of the track “With a Little Assist From My Pals” — in an obvious wink and a nod to the story serving to to unite the MAGA motion behind the president as soon as once more.
