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“This creep?”: Trump is over questions about Epstein

Trump berated a reporter for asking questions about Jeffery Epstein in a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday

National Affairs Fellow

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President Donald Trump takes a question from a reporter during a news conference in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on January 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump takes a question from a reporter during a news conference in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on January 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump wishes people could get over the whole Jeffrey Epstein thing.

During a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump stepped in front of a question aimed at Attorney General Pam Bondi. Even though the Department of Justice released a memo earlier this week concerning the late sex trafficker and financier’s case, the president made it known that he considered the topic passé.

“Are you still talking about Jeffery Epstein? This guy’s been talked about for years,” Trump said. “We have Texas, we have this – we have all of the things, and are people still talking about this guy? This creep? That is unbelievable.”

Bondi has come in for criticism since the memo went out on Monday. The attorney general had previously mentioned to Fox News that she had a list of Epstein clients on her desk. The memo denied the existence of any such list and ruled out foul play in Epstein’s death.

Still, Trump was incredulous.

“I mean, I can’t believe you’re asking a question on Epstein at a time like this, where we’re having some of the greatest success and also tragedy with what happened in Texas,” he said. “It just seems like a desecration.”

“Move on” is a change of tack for the Trump administration after right-wing figures close to the admin and otherwise spent Monday freaking out about the DOJ’s conclusions. InfoWars’ Alex Jones broke down in tears over the memo on Monday. Laura Loomer and other MAGA influencers and figureheads raged against Bondi and the FBI’s Kash Patel and Dan Bongino.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt scrambled to make amends for Bondi’s apparent faux pas on Monday, saying that Bondi’s list was metaphorical, and that she was referring to the “entirety of all of the paperwork.”

Bondi effectively repeated that sentiment on Tuesday.

“I did an interview on Fox, and it’s been getting a lot of attention,” Bondi said. “I was asked a question about the client list, and my response was, ‘It’s sitting on my desk to be reviewed’ — meaning the file, along with the JFK, MLK files as well. That’s what I meant by that,” Bondi said.


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Meanwhile, Jon Stewart took time on Monday’s episode of “The Daily Show” to call attention to the Trump administration’s approach to questions regarding Epstein. In the segment, Stewart mimicked hypnotizing viewers while repeating the admin’s mantra.

“There was no list. There never was a list,” Stewart said.

By Cheyenne McNeill

Cheyenne McNeill is a national affairs fellow at Salon.


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