Posters have begun appearing across Washington, DC, plastered on walls and public spaces. President Donald Trump’s war in Iran is not being referred to by its official name, “Operation Epic Fury,” but instead by critics as “Operation Epstein Fury.”
One sign features an image of a fallen American serviceman standing before the Stars and Stripes. “Cody Khork did not have to die fighting Iran for the Epstein class”, it reads.
Just four days before the February 28 bombing of Iran, a report revealed that the Department of Justice removed more than 50 pages of interview material about Trump from its files. Among the omitted content was testimony from a victim who alleged that the now-president abused her as a child decades earlier. The timing has fueled speculation: was it coincidence that Trump launched airstrikes on Tehran just as the Epstein files threatened to bring renewed scrutiny?
While the theory may sound conspiratorial, the idea that Trump initiated the war to divert attention from Jeffrey Epstein has circulated widely — not just online, but among political figures from both parties and prominent media voices.
“PSA: bombing a country on the other side of the globe won’t make the Epstein files go away, any more than the Dow going above 50,000 will,” said Thomas Massie, a Republican who has repeatedly clashed with Trump over calls to release the documents.
He is not the only one raising concerns.
“For years we demanded to release the Epstein files… not a single person has been arrested and likely won’t be: no accountability, no justice,” said Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally, on the day the bombing began. She added: “Instead, we get a war with Iran on behalf of Israel that will succeed in regime change in Iran”.
Graham Platner echoed similar sentiments, telling a crowd in Brewer the following day that “this war is also being pushed because Donald Trump is in the Epstein files, and other people in the White House, and other people connected with the Epstein class,” he said, “they are terrified that we have noticed what they are doing”.
In June 2025, Joe Rogan, whose podcast reaches millions of listeners, voiced a comparable view following Trump’s earlier strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. “Just bomb Iran and everybody forgets. Everybody forgets about it,” he said.
The speculation is not limited to political rhetoric. A recent poll conducted for Zeteo and other outlets found that 52 percent of Americans believe the president attacked Iran because of the Epstein-related headlines.
The survey showed that 81 percent of Democrats viewed the war as a deliberate distraction, compared with 52 percent of independents and 26 percent of Republicans.
Chris Edelson, a lecturer at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said it was “certainly possible” the conflict served as a diversion. “What we have seen in the files is shocking stuff related to Trump,” he said.
“They passed a law to make the Epstein files public and they didn’t and kept back some of the most damning stuff,” he added. “If that was the calculation then it’s trademark Trump but it’s been a disaster… what’s followed isn’t better, it’s just a different kind of terrible situation.”
On March 6, six days after hostilities began, the Justice Department released additional documents tied to Trump’s relationship with Epstein, including interviews with the alleged victim.
The anonymous accuser said she met Trump through Epstein around 1983, when she was between 13 and 15 years old. The Trump administration dismissed the claims as “baseless allegations,” and the revelations have struggled to dominate headlines or public attention since the war escalated.
In a statement, the White House pushed back forcefully, saying the idea that Trump launched the war to bury the Epstein story was “such a ridiculous take that it could only be concocted by true morons, such as Thomas Massie and the Democrats”.
Still, the “Operation Epstein Fury” posters remain visible across Washington, and speculation continues to circulate.
“When confronted with a faltering economy and the persistent political radiation of the Epstein matter, a war with Iran looked like a perfect narrative reset,” said Rick Wilson.
“For Trump, war is the ultimate political reset, no matter its cost.”
