Donald Trump made his thoughts clear after he unleashed at a reporter who questioned him over the Epstein files scandal, branding it a 'witch hunt'.
It seems interesting for the US president to make any connection between himself and witches but he has had enough with a recent line of questioning.
During a bilateral meeting between Trump and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos today (22 July), he faced questions about the Jeffrey Epstein case.
It’s something that’s caused a rift between the president and even some of the most staunch MAGA supporters after he promised during his campaign to ‘declassify’ information on the case.
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Epstein, a convicted sex offender, was once a friend of Trump and was on trial for sex trafficking when he was found dead in his prison cell in 2019.
And there’s been calls for Trump to uphold that promise and release all the files on the disgraced financier.
In particular, people want the apparent list of Epstein’s clients to be released but the Department of Justice has since said it doesn’t actually exist.
Senator Josh Hawley said: “I think it is maybe a little difficult to believe the idea that DoJ and the FBI... don’t have any idea who Epstein’s clients were.”
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The conspiracy theories have recently grown louder and reporters used the opportunity today to ask Trump about the case.
He brushed off a question about Ghislaine Maxwell (Epstein’s accomplice) and the justice apartment as he went on to say: “I don’t really follow that too much; it’s sort of a witch hunt.”
It’s now the third week that the scandal is dominating US news coverage but Trump and his close aides have widely avoided talking about it recently. However, the topic seemed pretty unavoidable today.
And he pretty much tried to say Americans should instead be focusing on the allegations of corruption against Democratic rivals, not the Epstein files.
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He told a reporter: “You ought to take a look at that and stop talking nonsense.”
Trump simply slammed the matter ‘ridiculous’ and a ‘distraction’.
He also said he didn’t know that his former lawyer, (now the deputy Attorney General) Todd Blanche, has reached out to Maxwell’s lawyers.
But essentially, the meeting in the Oval Office came to a close without any new details about the Epstein case – other than he thinks it’s all ‘ridiculous’ anyway.
Trump’s previous promise that he’d reveal secrets about Esptein’s connections has led to some of his supporters burning their MAGA hats.
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And according to a recent Reuters and Ipsos poll, nearly seven in 10 Americans believe details around Epstein's case are being concealed.
LADbible previously contacted the White House for comment.
Topics: Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, US News, Politics
Jess Battison