WASHINGTON, United States — US President Donald Trump sought Tuesday to distract from the growing furor over his administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal by pushing extraordinary claims that Barack Obama had tried to mount a coup.
The accusations, delivered in the Oval Office, followed a surprise announcement that Trump’s Department of Justice would question an imprisoned, key former assistant to Epstein.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement on X that disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, serving a 20-year sentence for her role in Epstein’s alleged pedophile scheme, would be queried for new information.
“No lead is off-limits,” Blanche said.
However, the show of transparency appeared to be part of a concerted effort by the White House and Trump’s allies to quell speculation about the convicted sex offender, who was long rumored to be a pedophile pimp to the powerful and who committed suicide in his prison cell in 2019.
While meeting with the Philippines’ president in the White House, Trump dismissed the Epstein case as “a witch hunt.”
“The witch hunt that you should be talking about is, they caught President Obama, absolutely cold,” he said, launching into a meandering series of unsubstantiated accusations around Obama trying to “steal” the 2016 election, when Trump defeated Hillary Clinton.
“Obama was leading a coup,” Trump said.
Former US president Barack Obama watches before the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington, on January 20, 2025. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson / POOL / AFP)
An Obama spokesman called the claim “outrageous.”
The coup accusation centers on claims that fly in the face of multiple high-level official probes by the US government. However, it resonates with Trump’s far-right base — in part thanks to blanket coverage by the popular Fox News network.
Trump’s attacks on Obama are “part of a larger strategy of distraction, but they also serve another function: to cast the president as a victim of Democratic treachery,” said Todd Belt, at GW University’s Graduate School of Political Management.
Obama’s spokesman echoed this, saying Trump engaged in a “ridiculous and weak attempt at distraction.”
In another ploy to bury the Epstein controversy, Speaker Mike Johnson, a key Trump Republican loyalist, said he would shut down the House of Representatives until September.
This was to avoid what he called “political games” over attempts, mostly by Democrats, to force votes on exposing more about the Epstein case.
Entangled in conspiracy theory
Epstein was awaiting trial on trafficking charges when he was found hanged in his New York cell.
Authorities declared it a suicide but the death super-charged fears, especially on the far-right, that a “deep state” cover-up was in place to prevent the names of Epstein’s clients from being made known.
This undated trial evidence image obtained December 8, 2021, from the US District Court for the Southern District of New York shows British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and US financier Jeffrey Epstein. (US District Court for the Southern District of New York / AFP)
Trump’s attempts to stop Epstein speculation clash with the fact that his own supporters are the ones who have most pushed conspiracy theories — and believed that Trump would resolve the mysteries.
They were outraged when Trump’s FBI and Justice Department said on July 7 that the death was confirmed a suicide and that Epstein never blackmailed prominent figures or even had a client list.
Trump tried numerous measures to placate his base, including ordering Attorney General Pam Bondi to try to obtain release of grand jury testimony in Epstein’s aborted New York case.
But the issue flamed up again last week when The Wall Street Journal reported that it had seen a birthday greeting penned in 2003 by Trump to Epstein on his 50th birthday.
The letter reportedly featured a hand-drawn naked woman, with Trump’s signature forming her pubic hair, and reference to their shared “wonderful secret.”
Trump insists he did not send the letter and has filed a lawsuit against the Journal.
A woman wears a red hat reading ‘Epstein Didn’t Kill Himself’ while demonstrating outside the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse as the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell begins in New York on November 29, 2021. (Bryan R. Smith / AFP)
Trump has never been accused of wrongdoing but was close friends with Epstein for years and was photographed attending parties with him.
Among the other celebrities with connections to Epstein was Britain’s Prince Andrew, who settled a US civil case in February 2022 brought by Virginia Giuffre, who claimed he sexually assaulted her when she was 17.
Giuffre committed suicide at her home in Australia in April.
Maxwell is the only former Epstein associate who has been convicted. She is appealing her sentence before the Supreme Court.
David Oscar Markus, Maxwell’s lawyer, confirmed on X that he was in discussions about her meeting with government representatives.
“We are grateful to President Trump for his commitment to uncovering the truth in this case,” Markus added.
Is The Times of Israel important to you?
If so, we have a request.
Every day, even during war, our journalists keep you abreast of the most important developments that merit your attention. Millions of people rely on ToI for fast, fair and free coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
We care about Israel – and we know you do too. So today, we have an ask: show your appreciation for our work by joining The Times of Israel Community, an exclusive group for readers like you who appreciate and financially support our work.
Yes, I’ll give
Yes, I’ll give
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You appreciate our journalism
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
You clearly find our careful reporting valuable, in a time when facts are often distorted and news coverage often lacks context.
Your support is essential to continue our work. We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically since October 7.
So today, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6 a month you’ll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘272776440645465’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
