Trump flips again: pushes GOP to release Epstein files

Donald Trump has pulled a complete U-turn on the Epstein files and is now urging House Republicans to vote to release the infamous documents.

Yes, that's right, after months of downplaying the files, and even going so far as calling them an ‘Obama hoax,' Donald Trump is telling his caucus to vote to release the very same files that ‘don't exist,' because they have ‘nothing to hide.'

You can't make this stuff up.

‘Nothing to hide'

In a lengthy message posted to Truth Social just after 9 PM on Sunday, Donald Trump told House Republicans they should vote to release the Epstein files.

 “As I said on Friday night aboard Air Force One to the Fake News Media, House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it's time to move on from this Democrat Hoax.”

It's a strange and sudden turn from his messaging over the last three months, in which Trump has repeatedly downplayed, or even outright refused to release, the files; sometimes getting visibly upset when reporters questioned him.

 Trump's post on Truth continued to say that the issue was distracting from the ‘Great Success' of his administration.

Trump also said that Republicans had already released documents, claiming, The Department of Justice has already turned over tens of thousands of pages to the Public on “Epstein,” are looking at various Democrat operatives (Bill Clinton, Reid Hoffman, Larry Summers, etc.) and their relationship to Epstein.”

Trump apparently wants the GOP to get “BACK ON POINT,” and then prattled off a list of ‘accomplishments'.

A strange flip after commitment

The strange part here isn't Donald Trump flipping on the Epstein issue: it's not the first time it's happened. Trump was elected on the wings of a promise to release the files.

What makes this hard to grasp is the timing. This statement came less than 48 hours after Donald Trump viciously shunned Marjorie Taylor Greene, after she doubled down on her stance on CBS.

All Greene said was that Trump's decision to keep the files classified was a ‘miscalculation,' and in response, Trump called her ‘a raving lunatic' and claimed he would turn down all her calls.

MTG has been one of Trump's most effective promoters over the last 10 years and is one of the most well-known Republicans in America. It raises the question, why cut ties with Greene just a day before switching your stance? Why break down the bridge instead of crossing it?

Maybe it was the emotional video released by the victims of Jeffrey Epstein on Saturday, urging Republicans to vote, or maybe there are political motivations.

Potential motivations

It's always dangerous to try to break down Donald Trump's decision-making. And it's entirely possible we shouldn't be trying to analyze the decisions of a man being forced to take cognitive assessments and MRIs by his doctor.

With all that in mind, though, it's still hard to believe his decisions over the last three days all happened in vacuums. Has his unpopularity finally caused concern?

Over the last three months, dozens of articles have been published speculating on the future of the GOP and the MAGA movement. Currently, the Republican Party is acting as a personal extension of Donald Trump: the least popular president since Bush, and nobody knows what it will be after he's gone.

Constitutionally, Donald Trump cannot run for president after the end of his term in 2028, meaning MAGA will need a new figurehead to fill the Trump-shaped hole in the GOP.

A party torn in half

The Epstein files and the budget that caused the government shutdown on October 1 have split Republican voters in half. On the one side, Donald Trump has created a voter base incapable of critical thought that will support him no matter what.

On the other side, you have Republican voters, the vast majority of whom are against sex trafficking, pedophilia, and government corruption. There are also more than 10 million Republican voters who rely on SNAP and Medicare, both of which Trump managed to slash in his latest funding bill.

It leaves the GOP with a question: go with the heir apparent, JD Vance, or shake up the party completely and try to find its way back to Republican values. Of course, donors may have more say than voters, and it might not matter what America thinks, anyway.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said Wednesday he would bring the Epstein issue to the floor this week. To become law, the bill would also need to pass the GOP-controlled Senate and gain Trump's signature.

Both Democrats and some Republicans have been backing legislation to release all the documents. Republican Representative Thomas Massie, a co-sponsor of the Epstein files Transparency Act, told the media on Sunday that as many as 100 Republicans could vote in favour of the bill.