A forthcoming book by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan says President Donald Trump privately berated Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk over Kirk’s focus on the Jeffrey Epstein files in July 2025, weeks before Kirk was later killed. An excerpt from the book, Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, describes Trump’s anger as the Epstein controversy intensified inside the conservative movement and the White House struggled to contain the fallout.
According to the excerpt, Trump was increasingly frustrated with Republican-aligned media figures and influencers, including Megyn Kelly, Tucker Carlson and Kirk, who were pressing for more transparency about the Epstein investigation. The tension came to a head after a July 11 Turning Point USA event, where multiple speakers criticized then-Attorney General Pam Bondi and what they saw as the administration’s handling of the issue. White House aides reportedly viewed the gathering as a public complaint session over the Epstein files.
The book says Trump called Kirk the next day and scolded him. Kirk, who had strong ties to younger MAGA supporters, reportedly believed the scandal was spreading quickly among the base and could not be ignored. The excerpt also says Donald Trump Jr. and J.D. Vance were worried about the backlash and pushed the White House to change course and urge the Justice Department to release more material.
For months, Trump had dismissed the Epstein files controversy as something “nobody cared about,” while his administration resisted releasing additional records. That position became harder to sustain as media reports and renewed attention linked the president to Epstein in various ways, fueling more speculation and anger among conservatives who wanted answers.
Five days after Trump’s call with Kirk, The Wall Street Journal reported on an alleged birthday letter Trump had sent Epstein, further intensifying scrutiny. The report claimed the note included a crude drawing and a message reading, “May every day be another wonderful secret.” Trump denied wrongdoing, and no evidence in the released files has conclusively tied him to Epstein’s crimes.
The controversy eventually reached Congress, which passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act over the Trump administration’s opposition, forcing the release of additional records. Trump’s name appears thousands of times in the files, but the documents do not establish criminal involvement.
The excerpt also notes that Kirk was killed two months after the phone call, while speaking at a college event in Utah. After his death, his wife, Erika Kirk, took over as CEO of Turning Point USA and became a prominent figure in conservative politics. Since then, she has largely avoided public focus on the Epstein files.
