How X is fueling the MAGA-Trump split

The Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy saga is blowing up in the White House’s face—and Elon Musk’s remake of X helped light the fuse. Conspiracy theories about Epstein—and the Trump administration’s supposed complicity in silencing them—are starting to split MAGA’s unruly factions and turn part of the movement against the president. It was Musk himself who wrenched the Epstein affair back into public consciousness during his first open spat with President Trump in June 2025. In a now-deleted X post, Musk wrote, “@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.” The President has not been officially accused of any wrongdoing connected to Epstein. But Musk bears a deeper responsibility for the mess as well, say experts in online speech—and for whatever damage it inflicts on Trump’s coalition. A huge amount of the infighting has unfurled on X, from Musk’s initial accusations to far-right activist Laura Loomer’s attacks on Attorney General Pam Bondi, to Infowars founder Alex Jones raging at “deep state” puppet masters in the administration. This would have been unthinkable on Twitter before Musk’s reign, when a team of content moderators tried to tamp down on volatile conspiracy theories by kicking off many of the users who are now raising a ruckus.