Donald Trump with Jeffrey Epstein in 1992
I joined Times Radio’s Trump Report on Monday for a 12-minute analysis of Donald Trump’s ongoing problem with the files of his former friend, the late sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein.
I chat with Anna Smith amid the latest revelations, forcing the dismissal of UK Ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson, on the eve of Trump’s state visit to Britain.
“The ringmaster of the circus can’t keep the zombies down,” I note.
Will journalists ensure that Epstein looms over Donald while he seeks glory and adulation in London? And will his so-called “base” care?
Trump gets away with lying about his connections with Russia because it’s “the Democrats” that brought this up.
He can get away with lying about his blackmail of Ukraine in 2019 amid Russia aggression, cutting off military aid, because it’s “the Democrats” and his “enemies” that whipped that up.
He can get away with lying about the Trump Organization because “the courts are after him”.
This time it’s his own people — Republican legislators, some MAGA faithful — who want this to come out.
You can lie about the other side, but you can’t lie to your own.
I also consider the tactics of the UK Government in handling Trump’s visit this week, “limiting the damage” over tariffs and Donald’s chaotic approach to foreign affairs such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine — but also facing the plotting of the Trump camp, including Vice President J.D. Vance and Steve Bannon, with the hard-right UK Reform Party.
