Trump’s effort to quell MAGA revolt over Epstein files seems to add fuel to the fire

President Donald Trump has come to the defense of Attorney General Pam Bondi amid an all-out revolt among his MAGA base over the administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

But his effort over the weekend to quell the outrage only seemed to add fuel to to the fire.

“What’s going on with my ‘boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals?’ They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening,” Trump wrote in a lengthy post to his conservative social media platform on Saturday evening.

“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,” Trump continued.

Trump’s post was ratioed, meaning the post received far more replies than likes or re-posts, often a sign of widespread disapproval — despite Trump’s platform Truth Social being home to many of his most diehard supporters.

Some of Trump’s fiercest defenders have continued to target the attorney general, warning the president that the issue is not going away and could cost him heading into next year’s midterms.

“People make their own choices and decisions, but mark my word, the lack of actual results at the DOJ and lack of transparency that translates into incompetence will cost the GOP House and Senate seats. Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Laura Loomer, who has been leading the charge for months against Bondi, posted on X.

Conservative commentator Megyn Kelly, who endorsed and campaigned for Trump in 2024, was still putting heat on Bondi even after Trump’s post.

“I’m sure it’s a relief for Pam Bondi to hear the president is still in her corner. Unfortunately, huge swaths of the party are not. She repeatedly misled on Epstein. Then didn’t have the courage to explain herself. Suddenly, she’s camera shy & no Qs allowed. Good luck!” Kelly wrote on X.

At the conservative Turning Point USA conference in Florida on Friday, Fox host Laura Ingraham asked if the crowd to clap if they were satisfied with the results of the Epstein investigation. The crowd loudly booed in response.

But on Monday, Turning Point USA co-founder and conservative commentator Charlie Kirk said Trump had called him and that he would trust the administration and wanted to move on from the controversy.

Kirk said Trump told him over the weekend that he still backed Bondi, sources confirmed to ABC News. Trump made the call after being shown a clip of Kirk seeming to support Bongino over Bondi at the Turning Point summit, sources said.

Notably, in recent days and weeks, Kirk has not been one of the MAGA voices leading the charge regarding the Epstein files controversy, and has at times been more trying to calm things down inside the base as other voices on the right raise the alarm.

At the same time, Trump’s former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon pushed for action regarding Epstein, posting online that Trump should “Give Epstein Evidence to the Special Prosecutor — NOW.”

Meanwhile, Lara Trump, President Trump’s daughter-in-law and a Fox News host, told MAGA influencer Benny Johnson on Monday that she believed there did need to be “more transparency” regarding the administration’s handling of the Epstein case and said she believed “that that will happen,” predicting more information would be released “sooner rather than later.”

Lara Trump’s message to the MAGA base: “But to everybody out there who’s all worked up about it, there’s no great plot to keep this information away that I’m aware of.”

The political firestorm kicked off after the Justice Department and FBI released a memo stating they found no evidence the deceased financier kept a “client list” of associates whom he blackmailed or conspired with to victimize dozens of women. No further charges are expected in connection with their probes into Epstein, the memo stated.

The department also released hours of footage as part of its review, which officials say further confirmed Epstein died by suicide while in custody in his jail cell in Manhattan in 2019.

Bondi, in particular, has come under fire over her comments to Fox News in February when asked about Epstein’s alleged “client list.” She told the outlet at the time, “It’s sitting on my desk right now to review.”

Bondi argued in a Cabinet meeting last week that she was simply referring to a file on Epstein.

“I was asked a question about the client list, and my response was, it’s sitting on my desk to be reviewed, meaning the file along with the JFK, MLK files as well. That’s what I meant by that,” Bondi said.

Trump in his social media post on Saturday sought to put his own spin on the Epstein files, claiming without any evidence they were created by some of his political foes, including former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Biden administration.

The Epstein files have also caused infighting within the administration.

Last week, Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino had a fiery confrontation with Bondi over how she has handled the review of the Epstein files and the Monday memo, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

Sources said that Bongino has recently suggested to allies he may resign.

Trump was asked by ABC News on Sunday if Bongino was still his deputy director of the FBI. Trump responded by saying, “Oh, I think so.”

“I did, I spoke to him today, Dan Bongino, very good guy. I’ve known him a long time. I’ve done his show many, many times, and he sounded terrific, actually. No, I think he’s in good shape,” Trump said.

Trump, in his social media post, insisted that his administration is achieving success and shouldn’t get sidetracked by this. He encouraged both Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel to focus on other things he deems as a priority, like voter fraud or the 2020 election.

“LET PAM BONDI DO HER JOB — SHE’S GREAT!” Trump wrote.

In another show of support, Trump brought Bondi along to the FIFA Club World Cup final in New Jersey on Sunday night.

-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders, Lalee Ibssa and Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.