President Donald Trump couldn’t escape the Jeffrey Epstein story on Sunday, snapping at a reporter in Europe for asking about his ties to the disgraced sex offender.
A reporter asked Trump during a press conference whether he rushed to complete his announcement of a preliminary U.S. trade deal with the European Union, which he announced alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday, to distract from the Jeffrey Epstein story.
Trump, however, would barely engage.
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“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Trump snapped. “No, had nothing to do with it. Only you would think that.”
The White House did not respond to an immediate request for comment.
The derisive answer came just after Trump snapped at Democrats for focusing on Trump’s decades long friendship with the late financier, which has come under renewed scrutiny after the Justice Department effectively closed its Epstein case earlier this month. Epstein died in federal custody in 2019.
“All they know how to do is talk and think about conspiracy theories and nonsense,” he said. “If they’d waste their time talking about America being great again, it would be so much nicer.”
Trump has lashed out at any mention of Epstein throughout the month, attacking Democrats, media outlets, and his own supporters for discussing the story. Trump eviscerated MAGA fans who demanded his administration come clean about its files on the late sex offender and Trump’s ties to Epstein, calling them “weaklings” whose support he no longer needed.
That attack came a day before The Wall Street Journal reported on a “bawdy” letter Trump allegedly penned for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003. The letter reportedly included an imaginary conversation between Trump and Epstein inside the outline of a nude woman.
Trump denied writing the letter and told the Journal he had “never wrote a picture in my life.” He later sued the paper, and its billionaire owner, Rupert Murdoch, for $10 billion.
Still, Trump has engaged—and complained—about the focus on Epstein. After CNN reported on Epstein’s appearance at Trump’s 1993 wedding to Maria Maples, Trump again complained, “You’ve got to be kidding me,” before calling the outlet “fake news” and hanging up.
Trump and his administration have also deployed other tactics to appeal to his MAGA base.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has accused former President Barack Obama of launching a “seditious” conspiracy to tie Trump to Russian interference in the 2016 election, and Attorney General Pam Bondi released hundreds of thousands of files on the death of Martin Luther King Jr.
