Put Not Your Trust in Princes

He knew. And we knew he knew.

In July 2019, I did a report on Jeffrey Epstein’s rape cult for The American Conservative called “Welcome to the Hellfire Club”. Later that day, a producer at Fox News called and asked me to discuss the piece on Tucker Carlson Tonight. Of course, I agreed. The producer gave me the address of a studio in Boston and told me exactly what time I should arrive.

I was in the cab on the way to the studio when he called me back. There was just one more thing, he said: I couldn’t mention Donald Trump.

As an aside, I don’t believe that Tucker had any idea what his producer was up to. He probably didn’t even read my article. That’s not his fault; it’s just how cable news works. Producers arrange interviews, write questions, etc. It takes dozens of people working ‘round the clock to create one hour-long episode of a show like Tucker Carlson Tonight.

Anyway, the “Don’t mention Trump” thing didn’t sit well with me. I’d brought him up at the beginning of my article because that, to me, was probably the most important detail. No one was really surprised to learn the Clintons had ties to Epstein. Back then, however, we still saw Trump as a Tribune of the Plebs. Sure, he’s got money. But it’s definitely New Money. The Trumps are a normal American family, only they Made It. Donald is One of Us.

If he’s caught up with Epstein, though, that whole narrative goes right out the window. Because then Trump’s not really an “outsider”—not in the way we need him to be. He’s caught up in the same dark cabal as the rest of our ruling class. The implication (it seemed to me) was huge. Far from being the people’s champion, he was merely another avatar of the global elite.

But I was twenty-four years old, trying to hack it as a conservative journalist. So, I did what I was told.

Anyway. The fact that Trump is burying the Epstein files is not just unsurprising. It’s predictable. Inevitable. Whether Trump belongs to the rape cult or whether he’s merely a fellow-traveler is irrelevant. One way or the other, he’s implicated in their crimes.

Honestly, it’s amazing how many people are surprised that Trump may be involved in this whole sordid affair. Tucker himself, when speculating on why the Administration is burying Epstein’s client list, floated two theories: either “Trump is involved, or “intel services are at the very center of this story, US and Israeli, and they’re being protected.”

But of course Trump is involved. We’ve known that all along. How can this even be a question?

For six years, elite institutions (Fox News, the GOP, the Justice Department, etc.) have been covering up for Epstein, Trump, and their ilk. The breadth of this conspiracy is so vast—its contents so sordid—that, ultimately, only the most powerful man on earth could prevent the details from reaching the public: the President of the United States. How fortunate for the Epstein cultists that one of their own is in the White House.

Remember the reports that Bill Clinton encouraged Trump to run for president in 2015? Was that just a coincidence? Or was this just another example of the Uniparty conspiring to ensure that its own members remain on top?

Either way, the Trump administration’s decision to bury the Epstein story is one of the biggest Mask-Off moments in history. Americans’ confidence in our government or our democratic process may ever recover.

And that’s okay.

Trump is not our populist messiah. He is our final, most painful lesson in the dangers of political messianism. “Do not put your trust in princes,” King David warned, “nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help” (Psalm 146:3).

In many ways, this is a tremendously liberating moment. The system is rigged; there’s no doubt about that. We can’t beat this system. All we can do is wait for it to collapse.

This is our opportunity—our excuse—to really “lay aside all worldly cares.” We are free to throw off any burden we feel to rule the City of Man and focus our pilgrimage to the City of God.

Do you see? We have no reason to think about anything except the one Source of all joy and peace in the cosmos. That’s pretty great, right?

So, build up your family and your parish. Love your neighbor as yourself. Pray for those who persecute you (and they will). “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

This is the only path left for us.

Thank the Lord.