Analysis exposes 47 'distraction tactics' Trump is using to dodge Epstein controversy

31 July

President Donald Trump in the White House Oval Office on May 28, 2025, in the Oval Office (The White House/Flickr)

MAGA Republicans are sharply divided over President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Trump is praising Bondi and urging members of his party to move on from Epstein, even accusing Republicans who remain heavily focused on the case of being "duped by Democrats" and falling for a "hoax." But former Fox News host Megyn Kelly believes that Trump is handling the case very badly and is being unreasonable by telling other Republicans to move on from Epstein.

In an article published by Politico on July 31, four reporters (Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing, Anna Wiederkehr, Abhinanda Bhattacharyya and Paula Friedrich) list 47 things that Trump would rather talk about than Epstein.

"President Donald Trump has long been a practitioner of distraction tactics during unflattering news cycles," the journalists explain. "But with the president looking to move on from the spiraling Jeffrey Epstein crisis, his flood-the-zone approach with endless posts has taken the familiar deflection playbook to a new extreme. Trump has posted hundreds of times in recent weeks as the disgraced financier's case has gripped headlines."

Ewing, Wiederkehr, Bhattacharyya and Friedrich continue, "The posts run the gamut, including major official actions like announcing new tariff baselines, celebrating legislation like the GENIUS Act and marking foreign leaders' visits. And many have been, by Trump standards, fairly typical: contemplating trying to force the renaming of the Washington Commanders, promoting friends’ books and television shows, and teasing a Coca Cola drink made with U.S. cane sugar. But many posts have also leaned into Trump's willingness in his second term to use the power of government to threaten his perceived enemies."

Politico, the journalists report, "compiled a list of topics dominating Trump's social media feed in the weeks since the Epstein saga blew up."

Those topics range from U.S. Department of Education cuts to Texas politics to fentanyl. Also on Politico's list: Trump's lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal, a new book by Fox News' host Mark Levin, and trade deals with Japan and Indonesia.

Politico lists Trump's attacks on American actress Rosie O'Donnell, who now lives in the Republic of Ireland and has been a scathing critic of him. Trump is threatening to revoke O'Donnell's U.S. citizenship, but she is a lifelong citizen who was born and raised in the United States.

The reporters note, "The president has no clear legal pathway to revoke the citizenship of the New York-born comedian."

Read Politico's full article at this link.

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