Can the Epstein saga puncture Trump's balloon?

Over the last decade there have been so many occasions when anyone, even with a mild interest in political narrative, has thought: wouldn't it be funny if this is the thing that brings US President Donald Trump down.

- NISHA SUSAN

Over the last decade there have been so many occasions when anyone, even with a mild interest in political narrative, has thought: wouldn't it be funny if this is the thing that brings US President Donald Trump down. The strange thing about Trump is that it's hard to gauge at any time if he is down or up. His ups have all the aesthetics of downs and his downs have all the convictions of ups. And in this anti-gravity, definitively anti-gravitas Trumpy trumpery-filled decade, you have wondered what would definitively puncture that balloon. Did anyone ever think it might be—even for the briefest time—Jeffrey Epstein?

A stream of anti-elitist lava brought Trump to power, the kind of lava that once promised to bring Swiss black money straight to our bank accounts. And as thoughtful commentators have pointed out, that same anti-elitist, conspiracy theory-loving wave found in the real-life figure of American financier and convicted sex offender Epstein, the perfect villain. And Epstein's last gift to every conspiracy theory-loving American nut was a sudden death in prison.