Donald Trump is being trolled mercilessly on social media after House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared to indicate that the US president had served as an FBI informant in an attempt to take down child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Epstein controversy has become a headache for Trump, who was friends with the disgraced financier for years. Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges that said he sexually abused and trafficked dozens of underage girls.
Some context on the Trump-Epstein row
Trump has faced pressure in recent months to make public documents from the federal investigations into Epstein.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department said it concluded that Epstein died by suicide and that there was no incriminating list of his clients.
The Justice Department's announcement angered some of Trump's conservative supporters who believe the government is covering up Epstein's ties to the rich and powerful and that the financier was murdered in jail.
Trump was an FBI informant?
The anger was not abated by House Speaker Mike Johnson’s claim that Trump was working with the FBI against Jeffrey Epstein. In fact, going by the social media reactions, few people bought the story.
{{/usCountry}}The anger was not abated by House Speaker Mike Johnson’s claim that Trump was working with the FBI against Jeffrey Epstein. In fact, going by the social media reactions, few people bought the story.
{{/usCountry}}Johnson’s remarks came after Trump called the Epstein saga a “hoax”.
“What Trump is referring to is the hoax that the Democrats are using to try to attack him,” Johnson said.
"It’s been misrepresented. He’s not saying that what Epstein did is a hoax. It’s a terrible, unspeakable evil; he believes that himself. When he first heard the rumor, he kicked him out of Mar-a-Lago.
"He was an FBI informant to try to take this stuff down," the House Speaker added. "The president knows, and has great sympathy for the women who suffered these unspeakable harms. It’s detestable to him."
Memes on Trump as an FBI informant
Social media users, when not directly attacking Trump over the Epstein issue, took recourse in memes to slam the US president.
One such meme mocked Trump’s evolving stance on the Epstein row.
‘FBI informant’ soon became a running joke
“We know Trump wasn’t an FBI informant because he would have told the world he was the very best informant ever by now,” joked one X user.
The controversy over the Department of Justice withholding Epstein files has dogged Trump throughout much of this summer, with some of his core supporters demanding their release.
(With inputs from agencies)