‘Pretty substantial distraction’: Trump annoyed Epstein is dominating agenda but won’t create ‘spectacle’ with firings

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President Donald Trump is frustrated that the Jeffrey Epstein uproar has overshadowed his agenda, but he doesn’t want to “create a bigger spectacle by firing anyone,” according to a report.

Trump is said to be “exasperated” by the scandal and is growing “increasingly frustrated” with how his administration has handled the Epstein files saga and media attention on the president’s ties to the sex offender, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting a federal sex trafficking trial.

“This is a pretty substantial distraction,” one person close to the situation told The Washington Post. “While many are trying to keep the unity, in many ways, the DOJ and the FBI are breaking at the seams. Many are wondering how sustainable this is going to be for all the parties involved — be it the FBI director or attorney general.”

Trump is reportedly hesitant to fire anyone over the scandal. “He does not want to create a bigger spectacle by firing anyone,” a person close to the president told the Post.

The president’s exasperation was evident this weekend in Scotland after Trump was asked about Epstein at a press conference touting his latest trade deal with the European Union.

President Donald Trump is said to be “exasperated” by the scandal and is growing “increasingly frustrated” with how his administration has handled the Epstein files saga. (AFP/Getty)

A reporter asked the president whether “part of the rush to get this deal done was to knock Jeffrey Epstein’s story out.”

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding with that,” said Trump. “No, it had nothing to do with it.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi for months pledged to release the Epstein files and claimed they were sitting on her desk. On July 6, the Justice Department and FBI issued a memo that poured cold water on the theory that Epstein kept a “client list” and the departments would not be sharing any further documents in the case.

The memo ignited outrage among Trump’s MAGA base and shows few signs of abating.

Bondi was not directly involved in writing the memo, according to the Post, but officials told the outlet that she did participate in conversations that led to its publication.

Trump, who has regularly indulged in conspiracy theories, also complained over the weekend that Democrats are too focused on conspiracy theories.

“All they know how to do is talk and think about conspiracy theories and nonsense,” Trump said during the meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “If they’d waste their time talking about America being great again, it would be so much nicer.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi for months pledged to release the Epstein files and claimed they were sitting on her desk. The memo issued by the Justice Department and FBI ignited outrage among Trump’s MAGA base and shows few signs of abating. (AFP via Getty Images)

Critics said the fallout is one of the administration’s own making. “They completely miscalculated the fever pitch to which they built this up,” said Stephen A. Salzburg, a former Justice Department official who teaches at George Washington University’s law school. “Now, they seem to be in full-bore panic mode, trying to change the subject and flailing in an effort to make sense of what makes no sense.”

The Trump administration has tried to distract with other conspiracy theories. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has been pushing claims that top Obama administration officials should be prosecuted for leading a “coup” against the president in 2016 by investigating Russian efforts to help his campaign.

“She has turned herself into a weapon of mass distraction, is what I’ve been calling it,” Democratic Rep. Jason Crow told Fox News on Sunday.

The controversy has refused to die down after a Wall Street Journal report revealed the alleged existence of a “bawdy” 50th birthday card from Trump to Epstein.

The president has denied the validity of the letter and has filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against right-wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch,the Journal’s parent company Dow Jones and the two journalists whose bylines appear on the story.

Trump encouraged the media Friday to “talk about Clinton, not Trump,” after the former president was also mentioned in the birthday book.

A Clinton spokesman declined to comment to the Journal and instead referred to a previous statement saying the former president’s association with Epstein ended more than a decade before he was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges. The statement also said Clinton didn’t know about Epstein’s crimes, the Journal reports.

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