The Justice Department’s release last Friday of millions of new files related to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein did little to end one of the hardest-to-shake controversies of Donald Trump’s second term. Why is a man who has been dead more than six years still haunting the president?

That’s how Trump reacted on Tuesday when pressed on his administration’s handling of the Epstein document dump. 

In the Oval Office, he shrugged his shoulders, denied that the papers amounted to much, shifted focus to other issues and, finally, attacked CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins for asking questions about the government’s treatment of victims – and for not smiling. 

“I think it’s really time for the country to get on to something else,” Trump said. 

We’ve been asking allies of the president what to make of the administration’s varying responses to the Epstein scandal. 

Few think voters in the midterm elections nine months from now are going to pick their local representatives based on the latest file dump – voters are preoccupied with how much day-to-day life costs.  

The president’s own political base has so far shown no signs of defecting. Trump stoked conspiracy theories about Epstein before he returned to the White House last year, and prominent supporters had accused his administration of a cover-up. 

But in recent months, the White House has successfully enforced message discipline in the MAGA media sphere. Congressional Republicans have shifted focus on the Epstein issue to Democratic former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee.

So, what is it that irritates Trump about this topic? One reason is his frustration that what he sees as a winning message for midterms – cheap gas, a rising stock market, low unemployment – is getting drowned out by this and other issues. 

"Maybe I have bad public relations people, but we're not getting it across,” Trump told me and other reporters last month at a press conference marking his first year in office. “I don't like to do this, to be honest with you, but I do it because - gotta get the word out.” 

The president views television as a vehicle to combat his political problems. It’s his way to bypass the messenger – the “bad” staff, the “fake” news – and speak directly to the people. When reporters bring the conversation back to Epstein, it’s a public challenge to his authority. One he needs to win to avoid quickly becoming a lame duck.   

Follow Reuters/Ipsos polling on the president's approval ratings here.

It’s not just a Washington story. Elites around the country and world are seeing their reputations shredded by Epstein file disclosures. 

In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces one of the biggest political scandals in recent memory over his appointment of Epstein-linked Peter Mandelson as a onetime ambassador to the U.S. 

The new document dump included emails suggesting Mandelson leaked government documents to Epstein, and that Epstein recorded payments to Mandelson. Mandelson quit the House of Lords on Tuesday and is now under police investigation. He denies wrongdoing. 

Starmer on Thursday sought to assuage anger from across British politics, including from some in his own Labour Party, saying he was sorry he had believed Mandelson’s "lies" before appointing him.