Trump talks up FBI as MAGA base erupts over Epstein ‘client list’ denial

President Donald Trump defended the FBI on Monday in a post on the social network that he owns, Truth Social, following uproar from the MAGA faithful.

Trump's MAGA base descended into furor after Attorney General Pam Bondi closed the Jeffrey Epstein case and said there was no "client list" that would be released. This came months after Trump hosted a right-wing influencer event where he gave out binder copies of the "Epstein Files."

In his post, Trump said the FBI is going "back to the basics" by focusing on street-level crime

"We have the Greatest Law Enforcement professionals in the World, but “Politics” and Corrupt Leadership often prevented them from doing their job," the post reads in part. "That is no longer the case, and now, they have been unleashed to do their jobs, and they are doing just that."

The Epstein files have been a central part of the second Trump administration. On one hand, the administration said it would release the files to maintain its brand as the "most transparent administration in history." On the other hand, the files have been a source of consternation because of Trump's close relationship with Epstein.

A lot of the fury from the MAGA faithful was directed at FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino. Both men talked about Epstein's past as a financier and a sex trafficker while they were private citizens, yet they signed off on a conclusion from both the Department of Justice and the FBI that said Epstein had no client list to make public.

Both Patel and Bongino also questioned the narrative about how Epstein died. However, they also approved of a statement saying that Epstein's death was a suicide, which contradicted their previous statements as private citizens.