'Livid' Trump living in 'alternate reality' after GOP 'forced his hand' on Epstein: column

President Donald Trump's reaction to the release of the Epstein files shows that he is living in an "alternate reality," Chris Brennan wrote for USA Today.

Nothing better exemplifies this, wrote Brennan, than when Trump responded to the controversy over the files by saying "I thought that was finished" and "There's tremendous backlash. A lot of people are very angry that pictures are being released of other people that really had nothing to do with Epstein."

"Trump was right that the Epstein files have prompted a backlash. But that anger is directed at the Department of Justice for not obeying the law passed in November to force the release of the Epstein files," wrote Brennan. "That law required the full release by Dec. 19. The Department of Justice didn't meet that legal deadline."

Trump went on to say that this controversy was manufactured by "mostly Democrats and a couple of bad Republicans." In reality, Brennan noted, "Trump knows every Republican in the House and Senate, with just one exception, voted with all the Democrats in both chambers last month in favor of the law requiring the release of the Epstein files. Trump signed that into law on Nov. 19 after spending months trying to intimidate Republicans into dropping their support for the measure" — which became all but impossible as survivors of Epstein testified in Congress and made their stories known.

Further revelations dropped this week with the release of new files, including an alleged letter from Epstein to fellow sex offender Larry Nassar naming Trump as a fellow traveler with young girls, which the DOJ has said is fake.

All of this, wrote Brennan, stands in stark contrast with how former President Bill Clinton, "who was also notoriously chummy with Epstein, reacted to the files this week. Clinton spokesperson Angel Ureña, in a statement posted on social media, called out the Department of Justice for selectively releasing some files while not following the law. 'Someone or something is being protected,' Ureña wrote while declaring, 'We need no such protection.'"