Donald Trump 'Scolded' Charlie Kirk After Turning Point USA Event Became an Epstein 'Grievance Fest,' New Book Claims

President Donald Trump reportedly wasn't happy with Charlie Kirk last summer after a Turning Point USA event turned into a public "grievance fest" over the administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Trump, 79, reportedly told aides in July 2025 that he was unhappy with conservative commentators Kirk, Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly as they contributed to pressure "publicly urging the administration to come clean" regarding the late convicted s-- offender, according to an excerpt from the book Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump shared by The New York Times.

The president was specifically frustrated following a Turning Point USA event hosted by Kirk on July 11, 2025, where the late founder criticized Pam Bondi's handling of the Epstein files.

"On July 12, the president took to Truth Social to defend Bondi against criticism and to urge his 'boys' and 'gals' to stop wasting 'Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about,'" read a passage from the book. "Kirk had held a Turning Point USA event the previous day that turned into an Epstein grievance fest, with one speaker after another bashing Bondi over her handling of the situation. Trump had called Kirk and scolded him."

The book reported that "nobody in Trump's orbit had a better feel for the younger part of the MAGA base than Kirk, who saw that the Epstein cover-up, as it was now viewed, was capturing attention to an alarming extent."

"Donald Trump Jr. and J.D. Vance — both of whom spent considerable time on X and were tapped into the same younger and hyper-online portion of the base — were also worried," the passage continued. "They urged the White House to change course and force the Justice Department to release more of the files."

The book also detailed a Situation Room meeting held days later, on July 17, 2025, during which senior Trump administration officials reportedly discussed using Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell to help distance the president from his former ties with the disgraced financier.

"This is a huge problem," Vice President J.D. Vance said to the table, according to the book.

The vice president, 41, reportedly pitched the idea of using Maxwell, 64, who is serving a prison sentence for the s-- trafficking of minors, as part of a White House PR "gambit."

He allegedly suggested she appear on Carlson's popular podcast in the hopes that she would publicly state that Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing related to Epstein.

Though Maxwell didn't appear on a podcast, she was interviewed by the Justice Department a month later, where she showered Trump with praise and denied that she saw him engaging in any form of sexual behavior.