What will happen after the Epstein files are released?
The US House of Representatives and Senate have approved the release of confidential files from the investigations into the Epstein scandal. Now the law still needs to be signed by US President Trump, who has long resisted the release of the documents even though he promised to go along with it during his election campaign. Could the files on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein pose a threat to the president?
Not the first storm he's weathered
Ilta-Sanomat sees no real danger for the president:
“Trump clearly assumes or knows that no big bombshell will be found. He has already survived court scandals that would have brought down any previous president or presidential candidate. It's hard to imagine how terrible a revelation would have to be to destroy him. Trump's opponents often underestimate his intelligence and keep trying to find signs of senile confusion in the elderly president. But Trump's instincts as a street politician seem to be fully functional. How long this will be the case is another matter.”
Cracks in the Maga movement
Der Standard sees a double warning sign for Trump:
“On the one hand his communicative omnipotence has failed: he wanted to play things down but has ended up making them bigger. On the other hand, his authority is crumbling: a few weeks ago it seemed unimaginable that Republicans would oppose the president. Now several members of Congress led by his former ally Marjorie Taylor Greene have given him a harsh rebuff. The patriarch's iron fist is losing its grip. Suddenly, the first cracks are appearing in the Maga movement, which has long been drunk with power. ... The closer next year's midterm elections get, the more Congressmen and -women who fear being voted out may try to distance themselves from other politically sensitive issues.”
The pressure from the grassroots was stronger
La Vanguardia sees a turning point:
“The US is on the verge of losing its global leadership role because the white middle class that voted for Donald Trump demanded that he turn his back on a world that had disappointed them. ... The Epstein scandal is the purest and most devastating element in this amalgam of emotions that has erupted like lava from the volcano of the Maga movement. ... Donald Trump seemed immune to any criticism. ... This time, however, Republican politicians have resisted the pressure because their voter bases are demanding the release of these documents in the belief that they contain all the secrets of that world they despise. And who knows, perhaps they also contain Trump's expiry date.”