Hoffman, a billionaire entrepreneur, is a major Democratic donor who has apologised for helping rehabilitate Epstein’s image in 2015.
“Epstein was a Democrat, and he is the Democrat’s [sic] problem, not the Republican’s [sic] problem!” Trump wrote on social media. “Ask Bill Clinton, Reid Hoffman, and Larry Summers about Epstein, they know all about him, don’t waste your time with Trump. I have a Country to run!”
Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein were friends in the 1990s but later fell out.
It was not immediately clear whether Trump had already taken steps to direct the administration to begin an investigation. That itself breaks with the well-established norm that the president does not directly involve himself in the actions of the Justice Department.
Trump has overtly departed from those norms. In September, he publicly directed Bondi to expedite charges against several of his political foes; Democratic senator Adam Schiff, former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney-General Letitia James.
“We can’t delay any longer,” Trump wrote at the time. CNN reported the Truth Social post was supposed to be a private message to Bondi. Since then, Comey and James have been indicted.
Unusually, Trump has not taken questions at press events in the past 48 hours, including at a bill signing event to reopen the federal government following a record 43-day shutdown.
Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive at an executive order signing ceremony at the White House.Credit: Bloomberg
Democrats timed the release of select Epstein emails to coincide with the day the shutdown ended, which enraged the president. The shutdown ended when a handful of Democrats broke ranks and voted with Republicans to open the government.
“The Democrats are doing everything in their withering power to push the Epstein Hoax again … in order to deflect from all of their bad policies and losses, especially the SHUTDOWN EMBARRASSMENT, where their party is in total disarray, and has no idea what to do,” Trump wrote on Saturday (AEDT).
The president is also battling accusations that he is indifferent to the affordability crisis, following Democratic success in state and local elections dominated by cost-of-living concerns.
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Trump has falsely claimed that the price of “everything” is down, including groceries. In fact, supermarket prices have increased, and inflation ticked up to 3 per cent. However, inflation remains far lower than the post-COVID spike under predecessor Joe Biden, as does the price of petrol.
“Cost, and INFLATION, were far higher under the Sleepy Joe Biden Administration, than they are now,” Trump posted. “In fact, costs under the TRUMP ADMINISTRATION are tumbling down, helped greatly by gasoline and ENERGY. Affordability is a lie when used by the Dems. It is a complete CON JOB.”
Trump has recently been criticised by some members of his own party, such as MAGA ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, who said the president was spending too much time on foreign affairs and neglecting domestic, hip pocket issues.
