President Donald Trump reportedly privately scolded Charlie Kirk over coverage of Jeffrey Epstein. The rebuke followed a Turning Point USA event that turned into an Epstein “grievance fest.” The episode is detailed in a new book, Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. The book draws on more than 1,000 interviews and was released on June 23.
New book highlights Donald Trump and Charlie Kirk’s relationship
Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, had been a reliable enforcer for Donald Trump. The president reportedly valued him highly, once saying Kirk “really helped me out in 2024. He got the youth vote.” The young activist had also been deployed alongside JD Vance and Donald Trump Jr. to pressure Republican senators during Pete Hegseth’s uncertain Pentagon confirmation battle.
But the Jeffrey Epstein controversy tested that alliance. On July 11, 2025, Kirk hosted a Turning Point USA gathering that transformed into what Haberman and Swan describe as “a complete Epstein grievance fest.” Speaker after speaker attacked then-Attorney General Pam Bondi over her handling of the situation.
Donald Trump responded furiously. The president telephoned Charlie Kirk directly to scold him, then took his frustration to Truth Social the following day. Trump urged his “boys” and “gals” to stop wasting “Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about.” He told aides he was “very unhappy” with influential supporters, including Kirk, Tucker Carlson, and Megyn Kelly, all of whom had publicly demanded transparency from the administration.
The book reveals that nobody in Trump’s orbit understood the younger MAGA base better than Kirk. He recognized that the perceived Epstein cover-up was gripping that demographic to an alarming degree. Donald Trump Jr. and JD Vance, both engaged with hyper-online conservative communities, shared his concern. They urged the White House to change course and compel the Justice Department to release more files (via Mediate).
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu for Mandatory.
