Monday briefing: How Trump and his allies flipped and flipped again on the Epstein files

Good morning. Leading Republicans were once full-throated in their calls for the release of every single scrap of information the US government might hold on the sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and his ties to the establishment. Years of Maga supporters entertaining the QAnon-fuelled frenzy of pizzagate conspiracies seemed to have pushed senior GOP figures in a direction where they believed publication of more information on the Epstein case would expose the Democratic party elite and the “wokerati” of Hollywood as vile sex fiends. That tone abruptly changed for some earlier this year, when Donald Trump found himself back in the White House. Trump and his allies began to dismiss the files as a Democratic smear campaign, and their handling of the issue has divided his typically loyal Republican party. But after months of obfuscation – and accusations he was attempting to block the files from becoming public – Trump appears to have reversed course, urging Republicans in Congress to vote for the release of the files. Today’s newsletter is all about how the change in rhetoric from four key figures has become one of the clearest examples of partisan whiplash in modern US politics. But first, your headlines. Five big stories Immigration | Refugees who have established lives with homes and families in the UK – including Ukrainians – will face having to return if their home countries become safe, Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, has said. BBC | The BBC should not pay any money to Donald Trump, the former BBC director general Tony Hall has said. The US president has said he plans to sue the BBC for up to $5bn (£3.8bn) despite receiving the apology he demanded over a misleading Panorama edit of his 6 January speech. Roman Abramovich | The former Chelsea owner is making a claim of “conspiracy” against the government of Jersey after the crown dependency launched a criminal investigation into allegations of corruption and money laundering in connection with the original source of the oligarch’s wealth. Cop30 | Brazil’s environment minister, Marina Silva, has urged all countries to have the courage to address the need for a fossil fuel phase-out, calling the drawing up of a roadmap for it an “ethical” response to the climate crisis. Labour | Allies of Angela Rayner say the former deputy prime minister would be likely to run in any future leadership contest and will seek to renew her public profile in the coming months. In depth: From ‘full transparency’ to shutdown “I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody. It’s pretty boring stuff. It’s sordid, but it’s boring. I don’t understand why it keeps going,” Donald Trump said in July 2025, in one of the clearest signals that the US president was trying to shut down the story. But for something boring, Republicans have spent a lot of time talking about it over the years – and changed their tune in the process. That tune now looks set to change again. *** Vice-president JD Vance Then: “What possible interest would the US government have in keeping Epstein’s clients secret? Oh …” – JD Vance on Twitter in 2021. Now: “Forgive my language but this story is complete and utter bullshit” – JD Vance on reports that Trump had contributed to Epstein’s notorious 50th birthday book. JD Vance has been put under pressure on the issue after online users resurfaced a tweet from 2021, which, as they say online, has aged like milk. Back in 2021, as his career was building momentum before becoming a senator in 2023 and vice-president in 2025, Vance was scathing about the Joe Biden administration’s refusal to release documents. Fast forward to July 2025, when Republican lawmakers moved to block a Democratic effort to force the release of the Epstein files and, a month later, Vance was on the attack again … blaming the Democratic party for the failure to release information during the Biden administration. He told Fox News “I laugh at the Democrats who are now all of a sudden so interested in the Epstein files. For four years, Joe Biden and the Democrats did absolutely nothing about this story. Now President Trump has demanded full transparency on this, and yet somehow the Democrats are attacking him.” That “full transparency” has not, however, led to the release of all the documentation being held. *** Attorney general Pam Bondi Then: “It’s sitting on my desk right now to review” – when asked in a Fox News interview whether Epstein’s client list would be released in February 2025. Now: “This systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list’” – unsigned memo from Bondi’s DoJ, July 2025. Pam Bondi, Trump’s attorney general, has endured a torrid year dealing with Epstein-related queries. In February she brazenly claimed she had Epstein’s fabled “client list” on her desk for review, implying it would be made public. When she did authorise the release of a cache of Epstein files, they mostly consisted of material that was already in the public domain, dismaying rightwing influencers. Then in July came the DoJ memo that, after an exhaustive review, it would not be releasing further documents. Bondi was hauled before a Senate judiciary committee hearing in October, where she leaned into a familiar Republican playbook. If in doubt, blame the Biden administration. She specifically accused 80-year-old Illinois senator Dick Durbin of taking money from Epstein’s friends, and as he tried to probe what might be in the files that the DoJ and FBI have kept secret and whether they might mention the president, Bondi said “You sit here and make salacious remarks, once again, trying to slander President Trump left and right, when you’re the one who was taking money from one of Epstein’s closest confidantes.” *** President Donald Trump 2024: “Yeah, yeah, I would” – Trump, when asked on Fox News if he would declassify the Epstein files. July 2025: “[The Democrats] new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bullshit,’ hook, line, and sinker.” – Trump, on TruthSocial. Today: “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide.” – Trump, on TruthSocial Perhaps the ultimate Damascene conversion has been that of Trump himself. In the 80s and 90s the pair were friends. They were caught on camera partying at Mar-a-Lago, Epstein attended Trump’s wedding, and flight logs released as evidence in Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial place Trump on Epstein’s private jet. As Virginia Giuffre painfully outlined in her memoir, Epstein met her at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, where she was working. She would go on to be trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell, and accused both Epstein and the then Prince Andrew of sexual assault. “Terrific guy,” Trump said in 2002. Epstein died in prison in August 2019, during Trump’s first presidency, while Andrew denies the allegations. Throughout his first term and again on the 2024 campaign trail, Trump leaned hard into the conspiratorial fervour around Epstein’s death – musing aloud that he might have been killed, amplifying theories implicating Bill Clinton, and repeatedly suggesting that “the truth” would emerge once he was back in the Oval Office. That swagger evaporated the moment the justice department informed him that his own name appeared in the government’s material. Promises of declassification gave way to furious attempts to shut the story down, culminating in Trump branding the entire saga a “Democratic hoax” and lashing out at supporters still pressing for answers. It was a spectacular pivot: from the man urging radical transparency to the president insisting everyone stop looking as there was nothing to see. And then on Sunday he flipped again, writing on his Truth Social platform: “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide. And it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics.” *** Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene Then: “I want to see the Epstein list” – MTG in December 2024. Now: “If they want to give me a list, I will walk in the Capitol on the House floor, and I’ll say every damn name that abused these women” – MTG in September 2025. It is rare for prominent Maga voices to break with Trump. The exception that proves the rule is Marjorie Taylor Greene. One of Maga’s most outspoken figures, she has stuck to her guns. Alongside Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace, she has joined with Democratic representatives in the house to try to force further document releases, and pledged to say the names of anyone the documents claim abused women under Epstein’s control. Trump and Greene exchanged barbs across social media over the weekend – a spat that looks even odder now that Trump has re-adopted her position. Whether it is Clinton, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, or the extremely litigious Trump, all the men linked to the Epstein case strongly deny any wrongdoing. What else we’ve been reading A three-year wait for a season of television – it better be worth it. The creators and stars of Stranger Things talk to Rebecca Nicholson and weigh in on the making of the final episodes of the blockbuster Netflix series. Toby, newsletters team I sometimes ponder what it would have been like being in my 20s in the 1990s if social media existed then, and shudder. In Dazed, Laura Pitcher writes about the horror of suddenly going viral in your 20s for looking “old”, and how it plays into longstanding brutal stereotypes about ageing in women. Martin Simon Tisdall lays out the case for considering the US a rogue state, pointing to the Trump administration’s extra-judicial killing of those it accuses of drug smuggling in the Caribbean. Toby There is no Doctor Who Christmas special this year – booooooo! – but there is a spin-off show featuring Russell Tovey coming in December. Tovey is the subject of Michael Cragg’s big interview, talking about pride, sexual power and politics. Martin Jenny Kleeman’s remarkable story about the female prison officers who get into sexual relationships with prisoners is both illuminating and depressing portrait of Britain’s rundown penal system. Toby Sport Football | Harry Kane, pictured above, scored two as England secured a 100% record in their qualification for next year’s World Cup with a 2-0 win over Albania. Elsewhere, Troy Parrott’s hat-trick, the last scored deep in injury time, gave Ireland a 3-2 win in Hungary to give them a place the play-offs. Tennis | Jannik Sinner closed out his immense season with a statement victory over Carlos Alcaraz, putting together a supreme performance to defeat the Spaniard 7-6 (4), 7-5 and successfully defend his title at the ATP Finals in Turin. Rugby union | George Ford has called on England to make sure their 33-19 victory against the All Blacks is not a false dawn after Steve Borthwick’s side extended their winning run to 10 matches. The front pages “Most sweeping reforms to asylum rules in a generation to be unveiled” says the Guardian. The Times leads with “First states face visa ban in migrant returns push” while the i paper has “Asylum seekers face 20-year wait to settle in UK – as new protests held at migrant site”. “Lawyers and Labour MPs to torpedo Mahmood’s asylum plan” – is the Mail’s take, and the Telegraph has “Take back migrants or face visa ban”. The Mirror splashes on “Get him off our islands”, detailing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s PR slide in the Falklands. The FT has “Trump trade negotiator lashes out at Europe over delays in reducing tariffs” and the Sun runs with “Nowhere to hide” in reference to the German man Christian B and Madeleine McCann. Today in Focus Why Labour is going Danish on immigration The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, is expected to announce a radical overhaul of the UK’s asylum and immigration system, modelled in part on what Denmark has done over the past decade. Danish journalist Nilas Heinskou explains what these policies have entailed, why they have proved popular, and whether they could be replicated in the UK. Helen Pidd reports. Cartoon of the day | Ella Baron The Upside A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad As the climate crisis continues unabated, extreme weather is becoming an increasingly every day part of life. The death and destruction caused by Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica was one such example. But it could have been so much worse. When then Tropical Storm Melissa was churning south of Haiti, Philippe Papin, a National Hurricane Center (NHC) meteorologist, predicted that in just 24 hours the storm would become a category 4 hurricane and begin a turn towards the coast of Jamaica. He was able to make such a bold prediction thanks to Google’s DeepMind AI, and it likely gave people precious time to prepare and get safe. “I’m impressed,” said James Franklin, a retired NHC forecaster. “The sample is now large enough that it’s pretty clear [the success of AI forecasts] is not a case of beginner’s luck.” It could provide a vital tool to protect vulnerable populations. Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday Bored at work? And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply