MAGA influencers line up behind Trump after days of pressuring administration for more on Epstein

Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon speaks with attendees at Turning Point's annual AmericaFest 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 21, 2024. The four-day event features some of the nation's most popular conservative speakers. (Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

Steve Bannon joined a growing chorus of MAGA influencers coalescing behind President Donald Trump in the wake of the Wall Street Journal report about a ribald birthday letter bearing Trump’s name that was sent to Jeffrey Epstein, telling CNN Friday that he believed the story had united a base that had been showing signs of fraying.

“We are finally on offense,” Bannon, Trump’s former aide and a leader of the MAGA movement, said via text message to CNN. “President Trump has had enough and is fighting back – against his real enemies.”

Bannon was one of several of Trump’s high-profile supporters who had been skeptical of the administration’s handling of the Epstein case, pushing the administration to release more files on the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender who authorities have said killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges.

The pressure campaign intensified after the Justice Department said in a memo last week that there was no Epstein “client list” and announced it wouldn’t release any more documents related to the case. Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino told people he was considering resigning amid a clash with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the handling of the matter, though he has remained in his position.

And some MAGA voices, like far-right activist Laura Loomer, had called for a special counsel to be appointed to look into the matter — which White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday was not something Trump would recommend, although she echoed the president’s earlier comments that Bondi could release other “credible” information.

But then came the Wall Street Journal’s article Thursday night. The news organization reported that it had reviewed a collection of letters gifted to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003, including a note bearing what appeared to be Trump’s signature and an outline of a naked woman. Trump vigorously denied he wrote the letter, telling the Journal, “It’s not my language. It’s not my words.” After the story published, the president threatened to sue the newspaper and owner Rupert Murdoch.

Many of Trump’s vocal online supporters quickly signaled their support for the president.

Loomer, one of Trump’s most vociferous defenders who had been one of Bondi’s biggest critics over the Epstein case, called the Wall Street Journal story “totally fake.” Charlie Kirk, another influential MAGA voice who had criticized Bondi, said on X: “This is not how Trump talks at all. I don’t believe it.”

Soon after the story, Trump ordered Bondi to unseal “pertinent” grand jury material from the Epstein case. It’s unclear whether the move will be enough to quell the calls from Trump’s supporters to release the entirety of the so-called Epstein files, given the grand jury transcripts represent a small portion of the evidence collected.

But Bannon said Friday that was a “good start.”

“Good start but stay on offense—it’s when Trump is @ his best –attack, attack, attack,” Bannon wrote in a message to CNN when asked whether the order to release grand jury materials will be enough to calm that pressure.

Bannon, a longtime critic of Murdoch, also argued that the media mogul will further serve as a uniting force for the president’s base.

“Murdoch showed how much he loathes Trump,” Bannon said. “Murdoch tried to destroy the President and failed – now Trump strikes back.”

For his part, Trump said after the Wall Street Journal published its story that he had called Murdoch and asked him to kill the article. The Wall Street Journal declined to comment on Trump’s post.

“The Wall Street Journal, and Rupert Murdoch, personally, were warned directly by President Donald J. Trump that the supposed letter they printed by President Trump to Epstein was a FAKE and, if they print it, they will be sued. Mr. Murdoch stated that he would take care of it but, obviously, did not have the power to do so,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Thursday evening.

By Alayna Treene, CNN