No surprise here.
President Trump retweeted a conspiracy theory Saturday evening alleging without evidence that former President Bill Clinton was in some way connected to the death of millionaire financier and alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, and his aides saw it coming from a mile away, The Daily Beast reports.
Epstein's death was ruled a suicide after he was found dead in his prison cell on Saturday morning, but it has sparked several conspiracy theories already, most centered on foul play, which the FBI has said it has no indication of.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But Trump's apparently on board. The president retweeted a post by comedian and conservative commentator Terrance K. Williams that contained a video of Williams arguing that "somebody got paid not to do" their job, deeming it incomprehensible as to how someone on suicide watch would be able to harm themselves. At the time of his death, however, Epstein was no longer on suicide watch.
Trump's advisers were reportedly expecting the president to dive into the conspiracy theories. One White House official told The Daily Beast that they assumed the president would say or tweet something about Clinton-centric conspiracies as soon as they started filtering out onto the internet, including from longtime Trump ally and Department of Housing and Urban Development official Lynne Patton. The general consensus among his advisers, however, is that there's nothing they can do about it until he grows bored and moves on to something else. Read more at The Daily Beast.
-
The trial of Jair Bolsonaro, the 'Trump of the tropics'The Explainer Brazil's former president will likely be found guilty of attempting military coup, despite US pressure and Trump allegiance
-
Telephobia: why young people are being taught how to make phone callsIn The Spotlight Young people are so scared of calls that they 'scream' when their phone rings
-
Sudoku medium: September 2, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
RFK Jr. names new CDC head as staff revoltSpeed Read Kennedy installed his deputy, Jim O'Neill, as acting CDC director
-
DC prosecutors lose bid to indict sandwich throwerSpeed Read Prosecutors sought to charge Sean Dunn with assaulting a federal officer
-
White House fires new CDC head amid agency exodusSpeed Read CDC Director Susan Monarez was ousted after butting heads with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccines
-
DOGE put Social Security data at risk, official saysSpeed Read DOGE workers made the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans vulnerable to identity theft
-
Court rejects Trump suit against Maryland US judgesSpeed Read Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee, said the executive branch had no authority to sue the judges
-
Trump expands National Guard role in policingSpeed Read The president wants the Guard to take on a larger role in domestic law enforcement
-
Trump says he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa CookSpeed Read The move is likely part of Trump's push to get the central bank to cut interest rates
-
Abrego released from jail, faces Uganda deportationSpeed Read The wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego García is expected to be detained at an ICE check-in and deported to Uganda
