NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� As he crisscrossed the country in 2024, Donald Trump pledged to supporters that voting him back into the presidency would be 鈥渙ur final battle.鈥�
鈥淲ith you at my side, we will ,鈥� he said repeatedly on the campaign trail. 鈥淲e will liberate our country from these tyrants and villains once and for all.鈥�
Four months into his second term, Trump has continued to stoke dark theories involving his predecessors and other powerful politicians and attorneys 鈥� most recently raising the specter of nefarious intent behind former President Joe Biden's use of an autopen to sign papers. The administration has pledged to reopen investigations and has taken steps to declassify certain documents, including releasing related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Yet many of Trump鈥檚 supporters say it鈥檚 not enough.
Some who take him at his word are beginning to get restless as they ask why his administration, which holds the keys to chasing down these alleged government secrets, is denying them the evidence and retribution they expected.
His Justice Department has not yet arrested hordes of 鈥渄eep state鈥� actors as some of his supporters had hoped it would, even as the president has been posting cryptic videos and memes about Democratic politicians.
鈥淧eople are tired of not knowing,鈥� conservative commentator Damani Felder said on podcaster Tim Pool鈥檚 show last week. 鈥淲e actually demand answers and real transparency. It鈥檚 not that hard to deliver.鈥�
A promise to reveal and dismantle the 鈥榙eep state鈥�
Trump has long promised to dismantle the 鈥渄eep state鈥� 鈥� a supposed secret network of powerful people manipulating government decisions behind the scenes 鈥� to build his base of support, said Yotam Ophir, a communications professor at the University at Buffalo.
鈥淗e built part of this universe, which at the end of the day is a fictional universe,鈥� he said.
Now that Trump is in power and has stocked loyalists throughout his administration, his supporters expect all to be revealed. Delivering on that is difficult when many of the conspiracies he alleged aren鈥檛 real, said Joseph Uscinski, a political scientist who studies conspiracy theories at the University of Miami.
To be sure, the president has prioritized retribution in his second administration. He has fired federal workers and targeted in executive orders. He has ordered the for political rivals and during his first term. His Justice Department has who investigated him and who investigated the .
Even so, Trump鈥檚 administration hasn鈥檛 gone as far as many of his supporters would like. They want to see steps taken against people he has long claimed were involved in sinister plots against him, such as former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and former . The administration also hasn鈥檛 offered proof of the 鈥� 鈥� that Trump claims have corrupted the federal government for years.
Conspiracy theorists focus on Epstein and Trump's assassination attempt
Tensions erupted this month when FBI Director and his deputy, Dan Bongino, dismissed two of the unsubstantiated conspiracy theories that have animated Trump鈥檚 base the most 鈥� that financier and sexual abuser was murdered in a cover-up, and that Trump鈥檚 in Butler, Pennsylvania, was a government plot.
鈥淵ou know a suicide when you see one, and that鈥檚 what that was,鈥� Patel said about Epstein's death in a Fox News interview.
鈥淚 have seen the whole file,鈥� Bongino added. 鈥淗e killed himself.鈥�
Conservatives online demanded to see the evidence, pointing to Bongino's past statements as a , when he suggested the government was hiding information about Epstein.
鈥淣o matter who gets elected, you get the same foreign policy, you get the same economic policy, and the Epstein videos remain secret,鈥� right-wing podcaster and former Fox News host said on his show.
鈥淭hey told us for months leading up to the Election that it wasn鈥檛 suicide," Newsmax host Todd Starnes wrote on X.. 鈥淏ut now they tell us it was suicide.鈥� He added: 鈥淧ardon me, but what the heck is going on at DOJ?鈥�
Attorney General Pam Bondi said this month that FBI officials were poring through 鈥渢ens of thousands鈥� of videos related to Epstein and would make more materials public once they took steps to protect the victims.
In the same Fox News interview, Bongino and Patel said they had been briefed on the attempted assassination of Trump during a rally in July and there was no explosive conspiracy to be revealed.
鈥淚n some of these cases, the 鈥榯here鈥� you鈥檙e looking for is not there,鈥� Bongino said.
Skepticism among 鈥榙eep state鈥� believers
Bongino appeared to try to throw a bone to Trump鈥檚 base this week when he announced the agency would reopen some prominent cases that have attracted public interest. He said the FBI would investigate the found near the Democratic and Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington the day of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, the leak of the Supreme Court鈥檚 in 2022 that overturned the constitutional right to abortion and the discovery of in 2023.
But it wasn鈥檛 enough for everyone who weighed in on his X account.
鈥淎nything to distract from the Epstein files,鈥� one user replied to his announcement. 鈥淣o results,鈥� wrote another.
In an interview Thursday on 鈥淔ox & Friends,鈥� Bongino teased that the FBI would soon release video captured outside Epstein's jail cell and materials related to Trump's attempted assassination.
He said he understands the public's demands for transparency but called for patience and noted not all information is the FBI's to declassify. That didn't satisfy everyone who wants answers to the conspiracy theories.
鈥淚 am convinced that the deep state can only be defeated by God at this point,鈥� Philip Anderson, a right-wing influencer who participated in the riot at the Capitol, wrote Thursday on X. 鈥淜ash Patel, Dan Bongino, and Pam Bondi are completely useless.鈥�
Promoting conspiracy theories as a tactic to distract
All the while, Trump has continued promoting conspiracy theories on his Truth Social platform and elsewhere.
He shared a video this month about mysterious deaths allegedly being linked to the Clinton family and shared someone's image of himself with former President Barack Obama with the text, 鈥淎LL ROADS LEAD TO OBAMA, RETRUTH IF YOU WANT MILITARY TRIBUNALS.鈥�
Ophir, the University at Buffalo professor, said it's a tactic that distracts Trump's base and helps inoculate him from criticism.
鈥淲hen something good happens, it鈥檚 because Trump is great and his agenda is brilliant,鈥� Ophir said. 鈥淲hen something bad happens, it's because of the Obamas or the Clintons or whatever forces are undermining him from within Washington.鈥�
Trump this week fueled newer theories, without sharing evidence, that Biden鈥檚 use of a mechanical device called an autopen during his presidency meant he didn鈥檛 sign his executive orders willingly or that aides profited from controlling it. He has called for people who operated it to be charged with 鈥淭REASON.鈥�
The narrative has gained momentum on the right because of allegations that Biden's aides . Presidents for years to sign certain documents.
鈥淲hoever used it was usurping the power of the Presidency, and it should be very easy to find out who that person (or persons) is,鈥� Trump wrote on Truth Social.
At least one user of his platform was unimpressed and questioned why Trump and his allies, holding all the power, still didn鈥檛 have any answers.
鈥淚F IT鈥橲 EASY,鈥� the commenter posted. 鈥淲HY HASN鈥橳 YOUR ADMINISTRATION FOUND THESE CRIMINAL鈥橲 ALREADY.鈥�
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Ali Swenson, The Associated Press
