New Book Says Trump Team Held Situation Room Meetings on Epstein as Vance Warned Files Could Surface
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jun 11
New Book Says Trump Team Held Situation Room Meetings on Epstein as Vance Warned Files Could Surface
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 11
Summary
Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan’s forthcoming book says Trump and senior aides repeatedly met in the Situation Room to manage the Jeffrey Epstein fallout while publicly dismissing it as old or irrelevant.
JD Vance pushed early to get ahead of possible new allegations, arguing Congress would force release of the full Epstein files; other aides said he seemed panicked, but the book portrays his warning as prescient.
The internal fight widened to personnel and pardon debates: Dan Bongino allegedly berated Pam Bondi over the botched file rollout, later resigned, and Trump fired Bondi in April; aides also weighed the PR damage of pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell.
Polling cited in the book ranked the Epstein files the No. 6 issue discussed negatively in focus groups, showing the matter resonated with Trump’s MAGA base even as he called it a hoax and targeted pro-release Republicans.
The book, based on three years of reporting and a March interview with Trump, is due in two weeks and is likely to intensify scrutiny of his long-running ties to the Epstein saga.
How did the internal focus on the Epstein scandal affect the FBI’s operational readiness for major national security events?
Inside the White House Panic: How the Trump Administration Managed the 2025–2026 Epstein Files Crisis
Overview
In June 2026, the book 'Regime Change' revealed that President Trump's top advisers held multiple meetings in the White House Situation Room to manage the political crisis over the Jeffrey Epstein files. This was a major break from the Situation Room’s usual focus on national security. The high-level meetings, including one led by Vice President JD Vance, showed the deep panic and paralysis inside the Trump White House. The administration’s use of a national security venue for a political scandal highlighted how seriously they viewed the crisis and how it disrupted normal government operations.