After having thoroughly convinced Americans, including his MAGA base, that he has something to hide, Donald Trump on Sunday night said that House Republicans “should vote to release the Epstein files.”

Or, to put it in the president’s own parlance, he folded like a dog.

It’s an acknowledgement that even he would not be able to stop enough House Republicans from joining Democrats in voting on Tuesday to compel the Department of Justice to release the vast majority of files it has on Trump’s erstwhile pal Jeffrey Epstein.

For months, the president has acted like someone who is extremely worried about what the American people will learn from these documents. He has called it all a hoax and disowned all supporters of his who care about this issue.

In the meantime, new disclosures showed why he has reason to be worried.

For example, The Wall Street Journal broke news of a lewd birthday message Trump wrote for Epstein’s 50th birthday that alludes to a “secret” the two share.

And, just last week, House Democrats released an email in which Epstein, who died in prison during Trump’s first term in office while he awaited his trial for sex trafficking minors, wrote that the president “knew about the girls.”

And now, after months of ranting and raving, obstruction, and bizarre statements and behavior, Trump is trying to make it sound as though he does not mind the disclosure of the documents.

“House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat ‘Shutdown,'” he wrote in a social media post, adding that “the House Oversight Committee can have whatever they are legally entitled to, I DON’T CARE!”

Moments later, he posted another message that shows that he does care very much.

In that post, he called Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), one of his most loyal supporters and perhaps the lawmaker who most personifies MAGA and “America First,” a “traitor.”

Trump abandoned the lawmaker because she is one of a handful of Republicans who forced House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to allow a vote on the Epstein measure by signing Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-KY) discharge petition.

Previously, Johnson had kept the House of Representatives out of session for more than a month to prevent that vote from happening.

Last week, following the release of the emails, Trump had asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate prominent Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton, who was also a friend of Epstein’s. And, even though DOJ had previously stated that there was no cause to probe anybody else, Bondi immediately complied.

This has Massie worried that this is yet another ploy from Trump to prevent the disclosure of the files.

On Sunday, he expressed concerns that the DOJ may block the release of the documents because there is now an “ongoing investigation.”

In addition, the fate of his measure in the Senate is also up in the air.

What is clear, however, is that this is a stinging defeat for Trump.

For all of his obstruction and his strange behavior, which has led Americans to say that they overwhelmingly disapprove of his handling of the Epstein files, he now has nothing to show for it.

In addition, in light of the extreme politicization of DOJ under Bondi and reports that hundreds of staffers are sifting through the documents to flag Trump’s name, hardly anybody is going to believe that the administration is going to release any information in which the president appears in an unflattering light.

It also shows that Trump is vulnerable. Public opinion has turned against him and, in spite of his efforts to convince Americans of the contrary, the economy is in trouble and his administration has done nothing to bring down the cost of living.

In fact, as the president had to effectively acknowledge last week when he removed the tariffs he had placed on some agricultural products, his policies have directly contributed to higher prices.

In his Epstein post, Trump claimed that he is “winning big” on the affordability issue, but the polls that reflect that only exist in his imagination.

One thing is for sure, this post will do nothing to make the Epstein issue go away, and that will likely spell a lot more trouble down the road for Trump.