New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman said Donald Trump’s push against releasing Justice Department files on Jeffrey Epstein in 2025 marked the first major rift with his MAGA base; she said his top allies and advisers saw supporters begin to trust him less.
Trump repeatedly called public interest in the case a “hoax,” but signed legislation in November 2025 to release the remaining files amid bipartisan pressure. The Justice Department released them after barely meeting the legal deadline, with numerous redactions; Trump also called former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene a “traitor” for demanding transparency.
Then-Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed in February 2025 to release a purported Epstein “client list,” later saying her remarks about the list were misconstrued; she reportedly told Trump in May that his name was “all over the files.” Haberman said she and co-author Jonathan Swan could recall no earlier instance of Trump telling supporters to “believe me, not what you’re hearing,” and said the appeal failed. She also argued the dispute reflected broken pledges on the economy, foreign entanglements and “draining the swamp.”
