Headline Roundup • June 11th, 2026
How the Epstein Files Created Conflict in Trump's Team
Jeffrey Epstein,Donald Trump,Trump Administration,Susie Wiles,JD Vance,Pam Bondi,Kash Patel,Dan Bongino
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The New York Times (Lean Left bias) published an excerpt from an upcoming book, "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump," delineating how President Donald Trump's team met in the White House Situation Room to try to manage the handling and public perception of the Epstein files in July 2025. Media from across the political spectrum analyzed how the files affect the president's and his team's varying reactions to the situation.
A White House 'Freakout'? The Times' excerpt described a meeting between Vice President JD Vance, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, counsel David Warrington, press secretary Karoline Leavitt, FBI Director Kash Patel, and other top members of Trump's staff in the Situation Room, a secure complex within the White House used to manage national security crises. It said Vance "appeared panicked" and described a conflict between him and Wiles over allowing the release of sexual allegations against Trump from one of Epstein's victims in the files, which included salacious details.
Why Dan Bongino Left the White House: The Times article also highlighted Attorney General Pam Bondi's actions, such as hosting a press conference with right-wing influencers and releasing Epstein's prison surveillance footage with a missing minute, that Patel, FBI deputy director Dan Bongino, and much of the public saw as missteps. Daily Wire (Right) focused on Bongino's role, as he reportedly "repeatedly told the White House that Team Trump wasn't grasping how big of a deal the Epstein drama was" and urged them to handle it differently. Daily Wire included alleged quotes from Bongino yelling at Bondi, saying, "You f*cked this thing up from the start." Bogino eventually resigned in December 2025.
Trump's Team Was Right to Worry: In an opinion for Fox News (Right), Howard Kurtz (Center) argued that Vice President Vance was "proven right" in his panic about how the release of the files could impact the president. Kurtz also wrote that "Trump seemed to have difficulty grasping… that his MAGA base indeed cared deeply about the issue," potentially adding fuel to the fire.
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Featured Coverage of this Story
Photo illustration by Alex Merto
On July 17, 2025, at around 6 o'clock in the evening, President Trump's top officials filed into the White House Situation Room — the secure bunker where classified and high-stakes national security matters are discussed and decided. This was where President Barack Obama, along with Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the president's national security team, watched the raid that ended with the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011.
Now, however, Trump's most senior advisers had gathered — without him — to figure out how...
As President Donald Trump's White House game-planned how to message the Jeffrey Epstein files during the summer of 2025, Dan Bongino was growing increasingly frustrated and angry.
He understood the vast interest in Jeffrey Epstein online, and he had repeatedly sounded the alarm to Trump's team that the outcry over the DOJ's bungling of the Epstein files was gaining momentum, as Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman reported for their book "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump."
Even if you're sick of hearing about Jeffrey Epstein – and who among us hasn't felt that way at times – President Donald Trump and his team have been far more fixated on the relentless controversy than they have ever acknowledged.
That (and plenty of other juicy revelations) is based on three years of reporting for a forthcoming book. "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump" is by New York Times correspondents Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan and slated to be published in two weeks.
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