According to a Quinnipiac University poll, the majority of U.S. voters disapprove of Trump's handling of files related to Epstein, a wealthy financier who died by suicide in jail in August 2019, weeks after his arrest on sex trafficking charges.

"It's all part of this larger conspiracy environment that Donald Trump thrives in, whether it be birtherism or it be this elite group of people who are always trying to keep information from the public.

The rhetoric marks a dramatic escalation for the Republican president, who has broken with some of his most loyal backers on issues in the past, but never with such fervor.