Trump stuck in a crisis of his own making that everyone saw coming

 Of all the crises to hit the White House since Donald Trump returned it is one entirely of his own making that is arguably causing the most damage.

The US president’s administration has accidentally deported the wrong people in sweeping immigration round-ups, overseen a power grab that has repeatedly butted up against the Supreme Court, leaked highly sensitive military information in a Signal chat and bombed nuclear sites in Iran.

But it is the once-fringe conspiracy theory about Jeffrey Epstein that is tearing at the White House and the Republican Party – and now threatening to damage the GOP’s electoral prospects.

One source close to the administration spoke to The Telegraph and described a “blind mess” in the White House that falls squarely at the feet of the president himself.

“We could have seen this coming, Trump played into this without knowing what he was seeing,” they said.

Mr Trump has dabbled in conspiracies for years: Barack Obama was born in Kenya, Ted Cruz’s father had a link to JFK’s killer.

For years, Mr Trump had pandered to his loyal base’s suspicion that the billionaire’s death was anything but a suicide, while hinting at “knowing things” about the disgraced financier that the public did not.

And so when the Department of Justice concluded the Epstein had no “client list” and died by suicide, not murder, he faced a predictable rebellion.

The conclusion would never wash for the voters and followers who Mr Trump has taught not to accept the word of government at face value.

“He campaigned on an unknown,” the source said.

They added: “He would still like to [release material] but he would be forcing victims to become public that would not want to be public.”

It is now open season with officials at war with each other, once-loyal podcasters attacking the White House, and even the most moderate voices like Republican leaders in Congress weighing in.

And while the White House is reportedly wargaming solutions, the way out is not clear.

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Far-right conspiracy theorist and podcaster Alex Jones called Mr Trump’s handling of the Epstein situation “the biggest train wreck I’ve ever seen”.

It has caused the US president to hit out at his own side, labelling them “weaklings” for believing the “hoax” about Epstein.

He said Maga loyalists had fallen “hook, line, and sinker” for conspiracy theories which began shortly after the disgraced financier was found dead in his Manhattan cell in 2019.

Loyalists from Megyn Kelly to Tucker Carlson have called for Pam Bondi, the attorney general, to resign over her failure to deliver, after she claimed in February that Epstein’s client list was “sitting on [her] desk”.

“The biggest problem is Pam Bondi let too much out before she had even seen anything, right? This is an over-ambition to do the right thing,” the source added.

But it is the polling that might worry Mr Trump most.

The threat of a dismal midterm has forced some of the president’s biggest allies to break ranks and call for the release of files related to Epstein, scared the base that elected them will turn on their heels.

More than six in 10 voters disapprove of how the Trump administration handled its investigation into the convicted sex offender, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

Just 17 per cent of voters surveyed said they were satisfied with the DOJs conclusions that Epstein kept no client list.

It may be perhaps why Mike Johnson, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, broke rank with the president and demanded his administration release “everything” on Epstein to the public.

“It’s a very delicate subject but we should put everything out there and let the people decide it,” he told Benny Johnson’s podcast.

The topic creates a dilemma for the president. Though Trump cannot legally run for another term, he will need strong support from a united party to pass his remaining legislative agenda in a narrowly divided Congress.

But trying to escape the corner he has backed himself into may be to do what he does best, throw more mud at the problem.

“I’d flood the zone with other news items,” Charley Cooper, a GOP strategist told The Telegraph, referring to a tactic the administration successfully deployed at the start of Mr Trump’s second term.

“Change the story, and do stuff that the Maga people care about... play into something else that they care about and throw them off the scent.”