The Epstein case: Has Trump also stepped into the "swamp"?

"Draining the swamp" was one of the key pre-election promises Donald Trump which especially resonated among his supporters. According to that message, Washington is ruled by a completely corrupt political elite that considers itself untouchable both in the legal and moral sense.

And Trump, ostensibly a political outsider, will finally, once he comes to power, put an end to it and "drain the swamp".

For its hitherto ardent supporters, there is hardly anything that better illustrates this conspiracy theory and shows the corruption of the secret peak, than the case Jeffrey Epstein, writes Thomas Lachan for Deutsche Welle.

The former investment banker allegedly sexually abused numerous underage girls between 2002 and 2005. He was assisted in this by his long-time partner Gillian Maxwell, who was also convicted for this. That millionaire has always cultivated connections with the highest circles of politics and business, as well as with a number of Hollywood stars.

Was there a client list?

Trump personally addressed the Epstein case during the election campaign, promising to release "secret" investigative files when he won. But, since he is the president, he doesn't even want to hear about it anymore. This creates a gap among his most ardent supporters, because there is a suspicion that Trump may be part of the "swamp" he allegedly fought against.

"Jeffrey Epstein is one of the true villains of our time," Glenn Trash, a New York Times reporter covering the trials, told DW.

"He sexually abused children. He was discreet and cultivated numerous relationships with other rich and powerful people. People who are currently in this hot swamp of Washington politics can hardly understand how the energy of the movement created around Epstein's 'conspiracy' took on an almost religious dimension," the reporter pointed out.

And it was precisely Trump during the presidential campaign who personally added fuel to the fire of some conspiracies related to Epstein.

"The so-called 'Epstein client list' became the mainstay and kind of a totem of the whole case," Thrash explained.

Trump's supporters claimed that the multi-millionaire had a list of rich and powerful people to whom he allegedly brought minors for sexual abuse.

"Investigators from both previous administrations, both Biden's and Trump's, announced that such a list does not exist," the New York Times journalist emphasized.

What is the truth?

Even so, doubts are growing among members of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement. The story fits perfectly into the broader repertoire of right-wing conspiracy theories, such as the already debunked claim known as "Pizzagate," according to which high-ranking officials from the ranks of the Democratic Party allegedly ran a pedophile ring through a pizzeria in Washington.

And wild speculation continues to swirl around Epstein's death in 2019: after he was arrested, he was found dead in his cell. An official investigation announced that he had committed suicide, but several prison guards failed to conduct a routine round that night, even though Epstein had allegedly attempted suicide just a month earlier. That was enough to fuel speculation.

Trump himself has fueled them by repeatedly saying that there is a "deep state" in the US, a term that refers to an alleged network of secret powers that act against the will of the American people.

Rebellion in MAGA

Now, a number of prominent representatives of the MAGA movement are demanding the clarification that Trump previously promised. Anything else would be "complete betrayal," against which people will "revolt," said Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greeney, once an ardent follower of Trump. Videos of disillusioned Trump voters burning their MAGA hats are circulating on social media. And a whole host of well-known right-wing influencers, from Laura Loomer to Alex Jones, have publicly turned against the president.

Trump initially tried to stop the increasingly heated debate - without success. On Wednesday, he then furiously attacked his critics, whom he called "former supporters".

"Let those weaklings go ahead and do the work of the Democratic Party," the president thundered, saying he no longer wanted their support.

Sometimes neighbors, and maybe accomplices

The real bombshell in the whole case is the fact that Donald Trump was personally connected to Jeffrey Epstein. Footage from the 1990s shows the two, then neighbors, at a party together.

And Trump reportedly flew on Epstein's private jet at least seven times. In a 2002 interview, Trump called Epstein a "great man."

"Rumor has it that he, like me, is very fond of beautiful women. And many of them are a little younger," Trump said of the controversial millionaire at the time.

In 2019, Trump, as president, distanced himself from Epstein and stated that he "knew nothing" about the abuse.

Not even Glenn Thrush of the New York Times has any evidence to suggest that the president himself was involved in the Epstein scandal.

"We conducted a fairly extensive investigation with several reporters from our and other newsrooms. No one discovered concrete connections between Trump and Epstein, except for business relationships and a few superficial contacts in the public for which there is evidence, i.e. recordings and photos," Thrash told DW.

The deepest crisis of trust

Despite this, the American president is unlikely to get rid of the ghosts he himself summoned so easily.

"Time to drop the real bombshell: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein papers," former Trump adviser Elon Musk wrote on his X network after the split between the two.

He did not provide evidence for this, and the message was soon deleted.

Nevertheless, the Epstein affair is turning into a deep crisis of confidence for President Trump - the deepest in the mandate so far. For now, Trump is tactful and just trying to survive the affair. It is extremely uncertain whether he will be able to do it this time as well.