Inside Trump team’s Epstein files fumble: Situation room meetings, rushing out influencer binders and MAGA divided

Inside Trump team’s Epstein files fumble: Situation room meetings, rushing out influencer binders and MAGA divided A new book claims Trump’s aides ‘were determined to keep their rising sense of panic out of public view’ when the Epstein files scandal erupted last summer - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments A bombshell excerpt from an upcoming book details how President Donald Trump’s team miscommunicated, clashed with one another and fumbled over how best to respond to the Jeffrey Epstein case “to a far greater extent than the public knew.” MAGA uproar over the late sex offender peaked last summer after the Justice Department and FBI released a memo effectively drawing a line under the matter. They stated there was no evidence that the disgraced financier had a “client list” containing the names of rich, famous and powerful figures involved in his trafficking ring and attempted to pour cold water on conspiracy theories around his death by confirming he died by suicide in a New York prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. An extract from an upcoming book by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, titled Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, sheds new light on how the president’s most senior officials responded behind closed doors to the crisis that plagued the administration for the best part of a year. In it, the authors claim how then-Attorney General Pam Bondi’s “egregious misstep” to hand out Epstein files binders to MAGA influencers sent the blood pressure of White House aides “skyrocketing;” how a high-stakes crisis meeting in the Situation Room saw Vice President JD Vance “panicked” over the scandal’s potential to divide the MAGA base; and how the bunker was also the setting of a furious blow up between Bondi and then-FBI deputy director Dan Bongino. The Independent has contacted the White House for comment. In a statement to The New York Times, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson reiterated Trump’s innocence in any Epstein-related matters, and added that “by releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act and calling for more investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, President Trump has done more for Epstein’s victims than anyone before him.” Bondi’s Epstein Files Binder Stunt MAGA has long been consumed by the Epstein case and many officials now high up within the Trump administration were the loudest voices pressing for the files to be released before the president re-entered office in January 2025. Trump pledged to release the files on the 2024 presidential campaign trail. Bondi, who was fired by Trump in April, breathed new life into the Epstein case when she appeared on Fox News on Feb. 21, 2025, and appeared to confirm the existence of the late sex offender’s client list. When asked when the Justice Department could release the names, she said: “It’s sitting on my desk right now to review.” Six days later came Bondi’s “egregious misstep,” Haberman and Swan write in the book, when right-wing influencers were invited to the White House’s Roosevelt Room to hear about the Trump administration’s agenda. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were in attendance, while Trump thrilled attendees by making a brief appearance, according to the authors. Then walked in Bondi and her team with boxes. “Bondi had brought binders as handouts for the influencers. Someone on her staff said: ‘Watch this. This is cool. This is going to be epic,’” according to the extract. “But as Bondi’s staff started distributing the binders, the blood pressure of other officials in the room skyrocketed. They had no idea what was in the handouts,” the authors write, adding that the binders had not been vetted by the White House. “One official, opening the binder, began flipping through pages to see if Trump’s name was mentioned anywhere,” Haberman and Swan write. “A few pages in, right in the middle of the page, there it was.” A Trump aide reportedly rushed the influencers out of the White House and said the content of the binders was under an embargo until after Trump’s press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, also taking place that same day. But the damage was done, and MAGA influencers were photographed outside the White House, proudly waving the binders with what largely contained information already in the public domain. Vance Led Situation Room Meeting Vance led a meeting in the White House Situation Room last summer, where he declared MAGA’s anger over the handling of the Epstein case “a huge problem” for the Trump administration, according to the book. On July 17, 2025, 10 days or so after the release of the Justice Department and FBI memo, Trump’s team scrambled into the secure bunker—usually the setting to discuss high-stakes matters of national security—to thrash out their response to the uproar in the late sex offender’s case. Vance, who was reportedly seated at the head of the table, “appeared panicked to others in the room about the way the subject of Epstein was already dividing the MAGA coalition,” according to the book. The Trump officials in the room with Vance reportedly included White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, White House counsel David Warrington, press secretary Karoline Leavitt, communications director Steven Cheung, Bondi and her then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. As the vice president aired his concerns, there were some in the room who believed that Vance “had bought into the darkest theories about Epstein and a cabal of predators hidden within the country’s ruling class,” according to the book. Privately, Vance was reportedly pushing for the administration “to release everything in the Justice Department’s possession” and was even encouraging a congressional investigation. The memo released in July last year was widely perceived as a betrayal by MAGA and instead of ending the conversation about Epstein, it ignited months-long media coverage. Vance, along with the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., were “worried” about how the fallout would impact MAGA’s younger base and “urged the White House to change course.” “Vance made clear to colleagues that he feared losing some of the so-called low-propensity voters, the young men who were not traditional Republicans but who had voted for the Trump-Vance ticket in 2024,” according to Haberman and Swan. During that July 17 Situation Room meeting, The Wall Street Journal dropped a bombshell report alleging that Trump drew Epstein a bawdy birthday card— including an illustration of a naked woman— for his 50th birthday, along with a note that read: “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.” Trump denied being involved with the card and launched a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the WSJ over it, but a judge dismissed the case in April. Aides read the report in the Situation Room - via printouts as cell phones are not allowed in the center - as Wiles prepared a denial for the president to post on Truth Social. The Independent has contacted the Vice President’s office for comment. This story is being updated, more follows Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments