President Donald Trump’s latest eruption over a long-simmering scandal landed just as a brutal 20-second video began circulating online — a clip so surgically edited that critics say it turned Trump’s already unraveling response into something closer to open panic.
Trump’s reaction to the latest Jeffrey Epstein disclosures has seesawed wildly in recent days — branding the investigation a “hoax” one moment, then demanding selective releases designed to “embarrass” Democrats the next — behavior that observers say reflects a president increasingly rattled as pressure mounts and timelines collapse.
That tension only intensified after California Gov. Gavin Newsom quietly dropped a short, merciless video before the close of the year — a clip that lets Trump’s own contradictions, redactions, and denials do the damage.
Trump outburst came after the DOJ announced it had uncovered more than 1 million additional documents related to the Epstein investigation, vastly expanding the scope of records under review and pushing back the timeline for their release.
On Truth Social, Trump lashed out at the agency, accusing it of wasting time instead of focusing on “Election Fraud etc.”
Trump went on to call for selective disclosures, urging the department to release Democratic names tied to Epstein in order to “embarrass them, and get back to helping our Country!”
“The Radical Left doesn’t want people talking about TRUMP & REPUBLICAN SUCCESS, only a long ago dead Jeffrey Epstein – Just another Witch Hunt!!!” he added.
That specific demand — not transparency, but humiliation — is where critics say Trump’s mask slipped.
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Political commentator Harry Sisson helped kick things off with a breakdown of Trump’s post saying, “It’s clear that he’s in full blown panic mode right now.”
Another widely shared reaction on Threads seized on Trump’s language.
“It’s interesting to me that he says ‘release all their names, EMBARRASS them,’ Donald — this isn’t about embarrassing people,” the commenter noted. “This is about holding abusers accountable for their actions and justice for the survivors and victims. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t care.”
Others Another post circulating on Threads cited comments from Epstein’s brother.
“They were very close. They used to fly on each other’s planes. Donald Trump was in Jeffrey’s office many times. I don’t know why he said he was never in Jeffrey’s office. That’s just a blatant lie.”
Critics also circulated archival footage showing Trump partying with Epstein in 1992, juxtaposed against Trump’s own holiday message attacking others associated with Epstein.
The contrast, some argued, made Trump’s accusations look like projection rather than accountability.
“Looks like he barely knows him. Not someone he hung out with. Just an acquaintance,” one viewer mocked.
Another commented: “The sick thing about this first picture is him whispering in Epstein’s ear the immoral acts he was planning for his victims.”
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The reactions spread rapidly as the Justice Department tried explaining why the release process was unraveling.
A bipartisan law passed last month — and signed by Trump himself — required the DOJ to release most unclassified records related to Epstein within 30 days. That deadline fell on Dec. 19.
The department released roughly 100,000 pages by the deadline, followed by another 30,000 pages earlier this week. But Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said over the weekend that roughly 1 million additional pages were still being reviewed, a claim the department formally confirmed on Wednesday.
“We have lawyers working around the clock to review and make the legally required redactions to protect victims, and we will release the documents as soon as possible,” the department said on social media, adding that the process may now take “a few more weeks.”
Nothing says transparency like the DOJ blacking out the juiciest bits of the Epstein files to protect elite VIPs. 2025 will be remembered as the Great Redaction Cover Up. Who knew “justice” could mean “just us” corrupt elites getting away with it. 🖤✂️ pic.twitter.com/L7hpDY6BQ0
— The Spiritual Shift (@spiritualshift_) December 24, 2025
Officials say teams from the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York identified the cache and that attorneys are working to make legally required redactions before release
Democrats were unmoved.
“It’s outrageous that the DOJ has illegally withheld over one million documents from the public,” Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement.
After the initial release, the department quietly removed several photographs from its public database, citing concerns they might include victim information. One of the images showed a credenza with several photos, including one of Trump. Blanche disputed that the image was removed to protect the president and said the concern centered on whether victims appeared in the frame. The photo was later restored.
It was against this backdrop — missing files, resurfaced footage, and a president visibly lashing out — that the impact of Newsom’s video was felt.
The 20-second clip, titled “2025: [REDACTED],” stitches together headlines, images, and heavy black redactions from the Epstein file releases.
The video flashes through pages almost entirely blacked out, then cuts to images of Trump standing alongside Epstein. It overlays excerpts from a prosecutor email referencing flight records that reportedly show Trump flying on Epstein’s private jet eight times during the 1990s — including multiple trips where Maxwell was also aboard.
That stands in direct contrast to Trump’s own 2024 Truth Social claim that he was “never on Epstein’s Plane, or at his ‘stupid’ Island.”
Set to Mumford & Sons’ “White Blank Page,” a narrator opens the clip with a ruthless hit: “And with that, the 2025 season comes to an end. Good night.”
The final frame displays Epstein’s own words: “i have met some very bad people, none as bad as trump.”
Newsom was praised for not only his song choice but continuing to put pressure on Trump when it matters.
“Scream it from the hilltops,” one viewer wrote. “And when nobody in Congress listens — scream some more.”
Another added: “The media needs to be running with this. They’re complicit.”
