While his base fumes over the Jeffrey Epstein files, President Donald Trump quite literally showed who he’s standing by at a FIFA game on Sunday.
The president and First Lady Melania Trump attended the FIFA World Cup final in New Jersey, attracting boos from the crowd at several junctures. The Trumps, who were seated in a luxury box, were accompanied by several of the president’s Cabinet members, including embattled Attorney General Pam Bondi and her longtime partner John Wakefield. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy were also in attendance, as well as NFL legend Tom Brady, media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, and FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
In one image from the event, Trump appears to be giving a thumbs up to a smiling Bondi and Wakefield.
The approving gesture follows days of MAGA infighting over Bondi’s handling of files related to the Epstein case, which have spurred right-wing conspiracy theories since the disgraced financier died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Far-right figures have long suggested that the government is covering up secrets in the case and that Epstein kept a “client list” to blackmail powerful people who abused underage girls. They’ve also speculated that Epstein was murdered.
Trump and officials in his administration repeatedly vowed to release the so-called “Epstein files.” In February, when Bondi was asked about the release of an alleged client list, she replied that “it is sitting on my desk right now to review.”
So when the Justice Department and FBI announced in a memo on Monday that there is no evidence Epstein kept an “incriminating ‘client list,’” MAGA figures erupted. The memo said Epstein had died by suicide and that the agencies had no plans to release further documents.
Trump supporters quickly turned on Bondi, calling for her resignation or ouster. At a conservative conference in Florida over the weekend, hosted by Turning Point USA and its founder Charlie Kirk, Trump and Bondi faced criticisms from both speakers and attendees. It reportedly prompted Trump to call Kirk personally to express his support for Bondi.
The president publicly threw his weight behind Bondi on Saturday, questioning why his allies are “going after” the attorney general. He said she was “doing a FANTASTIC JOB.”
“We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening. We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and ‘selfish people’ are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
