Week 37 - Trump Loses Control as the Epstein Files Dominate, while Polling Shows the Country Souring on Him and His Policies

This week the Epstein files, which have turned into the biggest scandal of Trump’s second regime, continued to be front and center. As I wrote in my Substack article here, up until now, Trump has been extremely successful at throwing shiny coins to distract and change the subject. This scandal marks his first failure to control the narrative.In the early part of this week, both he and his regime frantically threw shiny coins, including attacking Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, revealing a health issue, and firing U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey. Nothing seemed to work, but then he did get a reprieve by taking on a boogeyman for the MAGA movement, the media, as he sued News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch over a bombshell story published in the Wall Street Journal. Trump also took the remarkable step of accusing former President Barack Obama of “treason” and attempting to orchestrate a “coup” of the 2016 election, again in an effort to change the subject and steer his splintering MAGA base in another direction. Speaker Mike Johnson also took the unusual step of starting summer recess for the House of Representatives a day early to avoid a vote on releasing the Epstein files.As we hit the six month mark of the Trump regime, and Trump attempts to take a victory lap for his actions to date, polling shows the country souring on him and his policies. His overall approval hit a new low, with just 38% approving, 59% disapproving in one poll. His signature legislation is wildly unpopular, with 6 in 10 saying it will help the rich and hurt the poor. An increasing share of Americans think he is focused on the wrong priorities. By a 2-to-1 margin, Americans believe his policies have hurt them versus helped them. Just 17% approve of his handling of the Epstein files.There are some notable attacks on the media this week, including the aforementioned lawsuit filed by Trump against Murdoch and his companies. After the article’s publication, Trump banned WSJ reporters from the press pool on a trip to Scotland. CBS News, whose parent company Paramount settled a bogus lawsuit with Trump in Week 34, announced the cancellation of “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert, a Trump critic, and Trump promised more firings. The Associated Press also lost an appeal to gain full access to Trump.