President battles rare backlash from supporters, many of whom say he is hiding vital information. Plus, a climate expert calls for AI and crypto tax
Good morning.
Donald Trump has turned on his Maga base, blasting his supporters as gullible “weaklings” for believing the government is holding out on crucial information about the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The president is facing a crisis as his supporters suspect the administration is hiding details of Epstein’s crimes to protect members of the child sex offender’s elite circle – which, at one point, included Trump. In a post on Truth Social, the president claimed his voters had fallen for what he called a “radical left” hoax to discredit him.
It is unusual for his base to question Trump – but it comes after the president stirred up conspiracy theories during his election campaigns, including that the US is controlled by “deep state” elites.
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What are his supporters upset about? A key sticking point has been the government’s announcement that Epstein did not keep records of a “client list”. It’s particularly contentious because the attorney general, Pam Bondi, had previously said such a list was “sitting on my desk right now to review”, though she later claimed she was referring to other documents.
