Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia and other countries were forced to sign agreements. Trump, who "achieved initial success" in the tariff war, faced headaches domestically: the case of the mysterious death of the billionaire Epstein six years ago once again put him at the center of controversy.

Epstein was not considered a top American billionaire, but the secret social circle he created for the elite was unparalleled. As a key operator of the elite social circle, his influence far exceeded his personal wealth. Due to the involvement of many cases of power-sex transactions and even child molestation, this case has attracted high attention in the United States. Any politician associated with Epstein would see their popularity drop significantly.

Therefore, during his presidential campaign, Trump also used the Epstein case to attack Democrats, and promised voters that if elected, he would declassify related documents, such as Epstein's client list.

However, after entering the White House, although Trump published some documents of the case, he changed his statement and said that there was no "client list", and tried to downplay the case. This caused strong dissatisfaction among his MAGA supporters. These people supported Trump because they thought he was different from traditional American politicians, bold and decisive, but when it came to sensitive cases like Epstein, he seemed to be just like others.

Even more troubling is that the Democrats have also reacted, starting to attack Trump through this incident. Recent media reports have uncovered many connections between Trump and Epstein, such as that he once wrote a "disgraceful birthday card" for Epstein, and that Epstein was an attendee at his second wedding, for example.

These revelations may be true or false, but they still greatly annoyed Trump. Whenever someone mentioned Epstein in a speech, he would immediately get angry. When CNN wanted to interview him about this matter, he directly accused them of "fake news" and hung up the phone immediately.

More seriously, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal on the 23rd, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi told Trump in May that his name was also in the documents related to the Epstein case.

Of course, the fact that a name appears in related documents does not mean that the person involved has committed misconduct. However, the audience of the news may not be so rational, and this is certainly not good news for Trump's popularity. The White House unsurprisingly responded that this news was "fake news," but it could not calm the doubts at all.

It seems that Trump is somewhat nervous. However, the Epstein files may be a big "landmine" for the entire American political arena. His political opponents may use these to criticize him, but they will not easily disclose them. Otherwise, many influential figures in both parties might end up "sinking together."

Trump is aware of this, so for him, the important thing is to quickly shift public attention and use another more explosive event to make the public forget about Epstein.

This time, he chose the issue of Obama's "treason."

Obama and Trump have long been at odds. Pointing the finger at him serves two purposes: first, to divert attention, and second, to lay the groundwork for the 2028 election, consolidate his own support, and weaken the Democrats.

Therefore, on the 22nd local time, when an American journalist asked about the Epstein case, Trump directly accused Obama of "treason" and "manipulating elections," and called on the Department of Justice to investigate Obama and others.

Those named by Trump included several members of the Obama administration, such as then-Vice President Biden and then-FBI Director Comey. He accused Obama of being the "leader of the gang," and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was also alleged to have participated.

CNN pointed out that treason refers to a crime of attempting to overthrow the government, which in the United States could even result in the death penalty. In response to such serious accusations, Obama's spokesperson immediately refuted them, calling them "absurd" and merely a way to divert attention.

At the same time, a committee under the U.S. House of Representatives also passed a motion to summon former President Bill Clinton and his wife to investigate any possible connections between them and Maxwell, a co-defendant in the Epstein case.

The motion was proposed by Representative Scott Perry, a Republican. It seems that the Republicans have reached a consensus on attacking former Democratic presidents.

However, these accusations are unlikely to divert attention for long, because if there were problems back then, the results should have already been investigated. If there are special reasons that prevent the investigation, it would still not be possible today.

Now the Epstein case has had a huge impact on Trump personally and the Republicans. But this is something Trump himself chose. If he hadn't boasted about this issue to his MAGA voters before, he wouldn't now face the pressure to fulfill his promises.

Whether it is accusing Obama and Hillary, or trying to release the files about Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination to divert attention, it probably can't cover up the mess that Trump himself made.

Media reports predict that the Epstein case will continue to stir up the American political arena, and even affect the 2026 midterm elections. Under these circumstances, Trump may urgently need some external "victories" to dilute these issues, but the current decline in America's influence abroad may not allow him to achieve this.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7530534031978201652/

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