Three weeks that rocked the Trump presidency

It was the weekend of July 4 and the president Donald Trump was at the top of the world.

Aid has described it in private as the best section of its presidency – perhaps in both terms. He had won a series of victories that showed how quickly and ruthless his administration was that his administration will re -entertain. THE Supreme Court rendered a decision limiting the injunctions nationwide by federal judges – one that Trump called “a monumental victory”, unlocking long campaign promises as the end of the citizenship of the right of birth.

At the same time, Congress adopted its self -proclaimed “Big and Magnificent” bill – the 2017 tax reductions, stimulating border security financing programs and strike programs like Medicaid and Snap. Abroad, Trump has fallen US military May with a strike in Iran which, at least so far, has encountered a limited response. NATO The allies have agreed to increase defense expenses to five percent of GDP. The S&P 500 has reached a record.

On July 4, Trump’s approval rating had climbed almost 50% – downright stellar for him, at that time of polarization. Among RepublicansIts support maintained a company more than 80%. While fireworks were illuminating the night sky of DC, Trump had a lot to celebrate.

He did not know that in a few days, a political storm would break out – and for a change, it came from his own base.

A canceled promise

For half a year, Trump held marked campaign promises, scanning ICE Raids to exchange pacts to deregulation. But for Maga’s conspirant wing – Trump’s digital power engine – a commitment is most loomed: the release of so -called Epstein files.

In February, Attorney General Bondi said Fox News The list of Epstein customers was “sitting on my desk”. She then distributed binders marked “Epstein files: phase 1” to conservative influencers of the White House, in a photo intended to show the commitment of the administration towards transparency. It seemed to come from explosive revelations to come.

Then silence.

Then, on Monday, July 7, with the awakening country of its long sleep induced by the weekend, the DoJ discreetly published an unsigned memo of two pages claiming that no list of Epstein customers existed, no evidence suggested by Epstein was murdered in prison and no additional file would be released. Eleven hours of prison video accompanied the memo, but the images contained a gap at one minute attributed to a “reset of the camera”.

The note was supposed to put the test in bed. Instead, it is the opposite.

Laura Loomer accused Bondi of having orchestrated a concealment. Alex Jones Called the “disgusting” memo, accusing the administration of “covering sexual crimes for children”. TUCKER Carlson labeled the results of the MOJ “an insult to all those who believed in this movement”. Steve Bannon In other words, “how did an anti-state administration of Deep turn something from this white to lime?”

Even Trump himself seemed to be frustrated by the quantity of oxygen that the subject had been sucked, suggesting that even if he and his allies used Epstein for a great effect as a corner problem during the campaign, it is less in love to spend time pleading the past of the financier in disgrace – and their past friendship– Now that he is president.

“Maga would really not exist without conspiracy theories,” said Eric Alterman, professor of journalism at Brooklyn College. “These theories do not require evidence. These are stories that people tell themselves to explain why things have the impression of being mistaken in their lives.”

This expectation of dramatic revelations has become a decisive characteristic of the Maga era policy. The so -called UFO concealations to Epstein’s supposed “customer list”, Trump’s loyalists, including sometimes Trump himself, have long designed the conviction that sinister truths are soon exposed – as soon as their leader is back to power. When the government said that the mystery has resolved, the base broke out.

Trump begs, Maga Burns

As the month progressed and the indignation intensified, Trump’s loyalists began to turn around. July 9, assistant FBI The director Dan Bongino – Long of the first promoter of Epstein plots in his former media personality job – confronted Bondi during a closed -door meeting. Furious that Doj’s memo seemed to stop any other disclosure, Bongino would have threatened to resign.

“Bongino is crazy about control,” said a senior official Nbc. “It destroyed his credibility. He threatens to leave and fire PAM unless she was dismissed.”

Trump’s Trum’s social position on July 12, imploring his supporters not to attack Bondi, turned immediately. “What’s going on with my” boys “and, in some cases,” gals “? He asked, apparently referring to the maga-alignée Podcasters and influencers with whom he was loss the favor. He defended Bondi and minimized Epstein as “someone who does not care”. It has become Trump’s first post “rated“On its own platform.

At the Congress, a speaker Mike Johnson Affairs of the house canceled suddenly, returning the legislators to the house for the early summer rather than facing a vote on Epstein documents. When he pressed, he called for “full transparency” and urged Bondi to explain the decisions of the ministry.

In mid-July, fractures were visible in the survey of public opinion. Quinnipiac found that 63% of voters disapproved of Trump’s Epstein’s response. Even among the Republicans, only 40% approved.

His support Among the young men– The backbone of his return online in 2024 – took place. A CBS / Yougov survey has shown that Trump’s net approval among voters aged 18 to 29 has increased from 55% in February to 28% in July, a remarkable swing of 27 points in a few months.

“They voted for him because he met them where they were,” said Rachel Janfaza, a researcher who studies the behavior of Gen Z. “But the message must correspond to the messenger. They do not see results – the last one is always unaffordable, the jobs are rare and their diplomas feel obsolete when they obtain their diploma.”

Thom Hartmann, leftist political commentator and host of the Thom Hartmann program, said that the emotional assessment of disappointment was beginning to show. “Many supporters of Trump have spent years emotionally and socially invested in his myth … Admitting betrayal or deception requires admitting that they were false, which comes with deep psychological costs.

On social networks, long-standing loyalists have published videos of themselves burning Maga hats. Others have shared screenshots of Epstein files stamped “Phase 1” and subtitled them “Where’s phase 2?”

Why was this stupid Binder called “phase 1” versions of Epstein documents if the DoJ thought that there was no list of customers and no additional information on Epstein activities? Where is phase 2?

Everything is so stupid and ham from ham. Tell us what Intel agencies it …

– Sean Davis (@seanmdav) July 8, 2025

Hartmann said that the result depends on the surface more revelations: “Original video bands or photos that are clearly not tampered with, testimony in the first person by Ghislaine MaxwellOr more ancient adolescent victims who went on the file could spell Doom for his relationship with his base. “”

But so far, no second wave of documents has arrived. And the flame return continues to metastate. A clearly shaken white house communications office has even published a Answer on the record to an episode “South Park” which sneaks from the president, keeping him in the news. Everything, he seemed to remove Epstein’s attention.

While Trump rushed to move the spotlight elsewhere – the former president accusing Barack Obama of a Capital crimefree up files on unrelated, long -standing assassinationsDemanding that the commanders of Washington return to their old name, and even sending officials of the cabinet to kick the tires on Alcatraz’s ability to house criminals again – he found that none of the tactics who formerly insulate him political spinoffs could contain the fury this time.