Trump's 'signature crisis' has become a defining moment for the US: columnist

President Donald Trump's "signature crisis" has become a defining moment for the U.S., according to one columnist.

David Rothkopf, a columnist at The Daily Beast, argued during a new episode of "The Daily Beast Podcast" with host Joanna Coles that the way the Trump administration has handled the Jeffrey Epstein files is one of the "signatures of our time" because it connects to many other issues the U.S. faces, from political corruption to wealth inequality and everything in between.

"Some leaders have a signature accomplishment," Rothkopf said. "Donald Trump has many, many scandals. But this is his signature scandal."

Throughout his second term, Trump has been dogged by public demands to release the Epstein files, which he promised to do while running for office in 2024. He's combatted those demands by filling his administration with loyalists, including installing his former criminal defense attorney at the Department of Justice, who have worked tirelessly to keep the Epstein files hidden from the public.

To date, the administration has released a little more than three million pages of documents, accounting for roughly 2% of the files it possesses, according to reports. Meanwhile, Trump administration officials have removed documents from the tranche where Trump was accused of sexually abusing a minor, and ones that contain information about his relationship with Epstein, according to reports.

All the while, the Trump administration has released documents containing personally identifiable information of Epstein's victims, according to reports.

Rothkopf argued that the way the administration has handled the files is a window into "how huge swaths of our society work."

"It's the signature crisis of our time," he said. "It is the story that connects to all stories because of the people involved, but also because of what it reveals about how broken our society is, how corrupt our society is."