Trump tries to move on amid Epstein files backlash as speaker calls for their release – US politics live

<p>President tries to downplay issue amid growing outrage from conservatives</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/16/donald-trump-dismisses-inquiry-into-jeffrey-epstein-as-boring">Trump says people interested in Epstein inquiry are ‘bad people’</a></p></li></ul><p><strong>Donald Trump has dismissed a secretive inquiry into the late sex offender <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/jeffrey-epstein">Jeffrey Epstein</a> as “boring” and of interest only to “bad people”, but said he backed the release of any “credible” files, as he sought to stamp out a conspiracy-fuelled uproar among his supporters.</strong></p><p>The US president is facing a political crisis within his usually loyal Republican “Make America great again” (Maga) base over suspicion that the administration is hiding details of Epstein’s crimes to protect the rich elite he associated with, which included Trump.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/jul/16/donald-trump-epstein-files-jd-vance-us-politics-live-news-updates">Continue reading...</a>