One of President Donald Trump’s most loyal allies, his former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, has become the latest MAGA heavyweight to turn on the president over Jeffrey Epstein.
Flynn, a retired lieutenant general and infamous conspiracy theorist, posted a 500-word X missive directed at the president, calling on him to rectify his mishandling of the Epstein files.
“With my strongest recommendation, please gather your team and figure out a way to move past this,” Flynn, 66, wrote. “The roll out of this was terrible, no way around that. Americans want America to be successful, therefore, WE NEED YOU TO BE SUCCESSFUL.”
Trump has faced MAGA rage since his administration announced the end of its investigation into the Epstein files, having found no evidence of a “client list” or that the disgraced financier was murdered.
Many ordinarily pro-Trump voices—including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Laura Loomer, Charlie Kirk, and now Flynn—have voiced their displeasure with the decision.
Flynn wrote that he was less concerned about the circumstances of Epstein’s death than the idea that powerful people complicit in his crimes could walk free.
“If there are elites inside of our country that committed crimes against CHILDREN (shame on them)... they MUST be held ACCOUNTABLE,” he wrote.
The post echoed a conspiracy theory amplified by QAnon, a pro-Trump movement which Flynn has boosted and profited from. The theory alleges that Trump is secretly fighting against a shadowy cabal of wealthy and elite pedophiles.
While Flynn was critical of Trump in the post, he concluded, “God bless you and may God continue to protect you from the dark forces that do exist. I believe you were put on this earth for such a time as this.”
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment on Flynn’s post.
The post came hours after Trump had ridiculed MAGA devotees who have turned on him over the Epstein files.
“My PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bulls--t,’ hook, line, and sinker,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “They haven’t learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years.”
Trump’s relationship to Epstein, with whom he was repeatedly photographed before becoming president, has long drawn scrutiny.
Last year, the Daily Beast exclusively reported on audio tapes recorded in 2017 in which Epstein said that he had once been Trump’s “closest friend.”
Flynn, an influential figure in the MAGA world, spent 33 years in the military, attaining the rank of lieutenant general and leading the Defense Intelligence Agency until he was forced out in 2014.
After Trump won the presidency in 2016, he named Flynn as his national security advisor. Flynn was fired in 2017 after he admitted to lying to the FBI about his conversations with a Russian diplomat during the investigation into Trump’s ties to Russia.
Flynn twice pled guilty to the lies but in 2020, a month before Trump left office, he was granted a full pardon, protecting him from punishment.
Flynn remained a close ally of Trump’s after his departure. Alongside his involvement in the QAnon conspiracy, Flynn was a vocal proponent of overturning the outcome of the 2020 election after Trump lost.
When Trump returned to office in 2025, he rewarded Flynn with a spot on the board that oversees West Point.
