President Trump and his allies are desperate to move past the Jeffrey Epstein controversy -- but their own words and actions are having the opposite effect.
Trump's decision to sue The Wall Street Journal over an Epstein-related story, his administration's choice to bar the Journal from the group of reporters who will cover the president's upcoming trip to Scotland, and Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) eagerness to avoid a House vote on disclosure of Epstein material have all given fresh fuel to the story.
The self-defeating aspect of this approach was typified by one social media post among the many that Trump has been issuing.
On Tuesday afternoon, the president lamented that the achievements of the first six months of his second term were being underplayed because "all the Fake News wants to talk about is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax!"
His post, of course, gave the media another reason to keep talking about it.
The sense of creeping anxiety emanating from the White House over the Epstein matter is testament to the unusual discord it has caused within the Trump base.
Trump's astonishing political comeback, from the nadir of the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, to winning the White House back last November, was enabled by the fierce loyalty of his "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) supporters -- and by a party that has grown ever-warier of crossing him.
The Epstein matter is an unusual exception. Republican elected officials have proven uncommonly willing to break with the president -- or at least create some discomfort for him.
Even the Speaker has called for greater "transparency" around Epstein, though he has more recently tried to close a perceived gap between himself and Trump.
But Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) called on social media on Tuesday for a vote on disclosing the so-called Epstein files -- exactly the thing Johnson has been moving to thwart. Norman said Republicans should "vote on it before August recess and get it DONE!!"
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) has also called for the material to be released, while Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) -- who has been to the fore of the effort -- is now in open defiance of Trump.
Massie noted in an X post Tuesday that he had introduced "the only binding congressional legislation" to get the Epstein material released, and "in return, the attacks on me intensified."
Massie included in his message a screenshot of a Trump social media attack on him, in which the president called him "the worst Republican Congressman" and "A real loser!" Massie, in turn, used that attack to try to juice fundraising support from his supporters so he could "stay in the ring."
The big picture, of course, is that the Speaker's reluctance to hold a vote is giving more ammunition to those who suspect Trump has something to hide. Massie told reporters Tuesday morning that Johnson seemed to want his party colleagues to "just sort of stick your head in the sand" on the issue.
It is a matter of public record that Trump and Epstein, the disgraced financier and sexual predator, were friendly acquaintances for years in the 1990s and early 2000s. Trump called Epstein a "terrific guy" in a 2002 New York Magazine profile and also noted Epstein's fondness for women "on the younger side."
It's also known the two later fell out, though the precise reason has never been definitively established. Some reports cite a competitive battle over real estate, others contend Trump cut contact with Epstein after the latter behaved inappropriately at the future president's Mar-a-Lago club.
Trump's legal suit against The Wall Street Journal centers on the news organization's claim that a birthday message from Trump was included in an album to mark Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003. Trump insists the story, and alleged letter, are false.
In terms of the politics of the overall matter, Trump is reaping what his allies sowed, at least in some regard. People around Trump stoked general suspicion of all the circumstances surrounding Epstein, who died -- apparently by suicide -- in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges.
The current storm was set off by the contrast between comments made by Attorney General Pam Bondi in February during a Fox News interview -- where she said a list of Epstein's clients was "sitting on my desk right now for review" -- and an unsigned memo from the FBI and the Department of Justice earlier this month that contended "no incriminating 'client list'" could be found.
That set off real angst in the Trump base, with a number of MAGA-leaning commentators speaking out.
The relatively meager polling that has been done in relation to Epstein underlines the political peril for the president. An Economist/YouGov poll released Tuesday found Americans disapproving of Trump's handling of the Epstein investigation by a huge margin. Fifty-six percent disapproved and just 22 percent approved.
Significantly, exactly 1 in 4 Republicans disapproved of the president's actions, and an additional 30 percent declined to express an opinion. Just 45 percent of Republicans approved of how Trump had handled the matter.
Those are unusually bad figures for Trump among Republicans.
There is nothing very surprising about the overwhelming disapproval of the president's handling of the controversy among Democrats (only 7 percent approved), but it is also telling that independents came out against his actions by a massive 61 percent to 15 percent.
For the moment, at least, Trump is stuck, and new developments are coming thick and fast. An announcement Tuesday from Bondi's social media account saying Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche would meet with Ghislaine Maxwell set off its own new round of speculation as to possible ulterior motives. In 2022, Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years for conspiring in Epstein's abuse.
Trump has tried to turn the page repeatedly. So far, unusually, it hasn't worked.