FROM THE OUTSIDE | Trump and “his” scandal

Por

José Carreño Figueras

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Publicado: 25/7/2025 · 3:20 p.m. MX | Actualizado: 25/7/2025 · 3:20 p.m. MX

As his approval ratings continue to drop, President Donald Trump also seems increasingly weighed down by the scandal surrounding documents related to the case of his former friend, Jeffrey Epstein, despite his efforts to defuse a controversy that he and his allies had actively fueled for years.

Epstein was a notorious businessman who died by suicide in 2019 while in jail awaiting trial for child sex trafficking. The rumors about his activities, and later his death, became central to a conspiracy theory promoted by the American right, involving Democratic figures accused of child trafficking and even cannibalism.

During his campaign, Trump and his allies promised to release all documents related to the case. Last March, Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed she had Epstein’s “client list” sitting on her desk.

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But by early July, she declared there was nothing to pursue and that the case was closed.

Many Trump allies were furious.

Then, photos began to surface, showing Epstein with Trump at parties and fashion shows, serving as pageant judges for teen contests, and even a copy of a birthday card sent by the now-president. To top it off, reports emerged that Trump had been informed in May that his name appeared in the Epstein case documents.

After all, it’s not easy to deny a 15-year friendship.

Now, Trump and those allies who are not furious or feeling betrayed are trying to shift attention elsewhere, so much so that they moved up the August legislative recess to diffuse the scandal.

The problem is, even some of Trump’s former allies don’t appreciate being lied to—and they don’t like the possibility that Trump himself may be involved in a cover-up of his own “indiscretions.”

So far, however, the distraction strategy seems ineffective. But there’s no shortage of topics, from the trivial to the serious, that the Trump administration can try to use: from half-baked investigations—like former President Bill Clinton’s presence at Epstein’s parties—to issues like the economy, trade, security and drugs, the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, inflation, or even the name of Washington’s football team.

Throughout his life, Trump has relied on three principles that’ve worked for him so far: always claim victory, deny everything, and hit back.

August will reveal the genuine outrage among Americans and how much trust remains in the Trump government. For now, Gallup says his approval rating is at 31 percent and could still drop further.

José Carreño Figueras