Trump’s once-loyal conspiracy theorists are answering to a higher power

5 days ago 3

Opinion

September 10, 2025 — 3.36pm

If Donald Trump’s intention is to convince his supporters that he is not involved in any conspiracy surrounding the serial sexual abuser and alleged trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, he’s failing miserably at every turn.

After months of vehemently denying that he wrote a birthday message to Epstein in 2003 that included the line “may every day be another wonderful secret”, the note has now been made public. And to the lay observer (and a handwriting expert that compared the signature to other verified signatures from Trump around the same time), wouldn’t you know it, the penmanship bears a striking resemblance to the president’s.

Demonstrators hold banners during a news conference at the US Capitol demanding more transparency on Jeffrey Epstein.

In the same birthday book, which was made public by Democrats earlier this week, was a photograph of Epstein holding up a giant cheque made out to him and signed by “DJ Trump”. Underneath the photo, a handwritten note reads, “Jeffrey showing early talents with money and women! Sells ‘fully depreciated’ [female name redacted] to Donald Trump for $22,500.”

This came on the back of last week’s “unfortunate coincidence” in Washington, where military fighter jets flew over the Capitol at the exact time as a handful of Epstein’s victims were speaking, effectively drowning them out.

While the White House denied the jets were deployed as a means of intentionally silencing the women as they publicly pleaded with lawmakers to release the Epstein files, Republican Thomas Massie, one of the few to cross the party line on this issue, said he understood that the flyover was approved after the press conference had been announced. “There is no limit to the weapons of mass distraction the White House will go to try and make this go away,” Massie said.

That, of course, came on the back of the Department of Justice and FBI announcing in July that they had completed their review into the Epstein files and had nothing further to share with the public, despite Attorney General Pam Bondi saying in February that she had an Epstein client list sitting on her desk.

As Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, an avowed conspiracy theorist who has historically been loyal to Trump but appeared alongside Epstein’s victims and Massie in Washington last week, said of the Epstein files and their release, “This is not about politics. This is a boiling point in American history.”

But for Trump, everything is political, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore that the conspiracy theorists who helped return him to power, that he once believed were unwaveringly loyal to him, actually answer to a higher power. Sure, they may admire him; perhaps they even respect him. But their loyalty, above all else, is to uncovering what they believe is the truth.

The real problem he faces here isn’t a lack of respect for sexual abuse victims (that’s well documented at this point). It’s not even his complete disinterest in the truth or his lack of understanding around why truth matters (that too is well documented). It’s that he thought reaching into his presidential grab bag and pulling out his usual tricks might actually work here. It doesn’t matter that he sent the National Guard into Washington, approved the execution of suspected drug smugglers in international waters, or said that a man having “a little fight with his wife” should not be a criminal act. No matter how far he goes, the conspiracy theorists have locked their jaws onto a bone with the Epstein files and will not let it go.

In addition to Taylor Greene, other once-loyal, high-profile supporters such as Alex Jones and Joe Rogan are openly criticising the president for his handling of this issue. Meanwhile, recent polling from the University of Massachusetts Amherst shows that 43 per cent of Republicans are unhappy with how the president has handled the release of Epstein information, and 28 per cent of people who voted for Trump in 2024 now say that if they had their time over, they would not vote for him again.

It speaks volumes that more than a quarter of his voter base are now walking back their support for him over his unwillingness to release the Epstein files. If the election were held today, he would be likely to lose due to this issue.

Generally, the more you try to convince people that there’s nothing to see, the more likely people are to think you’re covering something up. And on their own, Epstein’s exorbitant wealth, high-profile friends, sweetheart plea deal in 2008, and suicide in a high-security prison in 2019 offer plenty of fuel for the conspiracy theory fire. But add a voter base with an inherent distrust for authority, who view conflicting statements from the government with extreme scepticism, and it’s kerosene to the flames.