The White House is in damage control mode after word got out about a private dinner meeting meant to discuss how to handle the fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Vice President JD Vance was reportedly set to host the high-level strategy session, aimed at crafting a response to the growing pressure surrounding Epstein and his longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
But now that the meeting plans have gone public, everything is up in the air.
“It may be moved, rescheduled, or canceled entirely,” CNN’s Kasie Hunt reported, citing unnamed sources.
The leak caught even top reporters off guard. Speaking with senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes, Hunt admitted she was surprised the meeting was happening at all.
“What we learned is that the White House was also kind of floored that this information got out there from a number of sources,” Holmes said. “To my colleague Alayna Treene and me, and a number of our White House team members, that there was going to be a dinner at all.”
According to Holmes, the dinner was set to take place at Vance’s home and bring together key aides and Cabinet members to “really realign” their approach.
This isn’t the first time this group has come together—and the last time didn’t go smoothly.
“One of the things to note is the last time we talked about a meeting involving Susie Wiles, Kash Patel, and Pam Bondi, it didn’t end well,” Holmes said. “In fact, it ended with FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino saying that he wasn’t leaking stories about Bondi and storming out of the meeting.”
There’s been long-standing friction between Bondi and the FBI over how the Epstein files have been handled. Patel and Bongino, who once pushed hard for releasing those documents, have now taken a much quieter role.
The dinner was meant to bring these heavy hitters together—those in charge of controlling the message around Epstein. But with the leak making headlines, the White House may be rethinking its plan.
“As you said, we now don’t know if this is actually happening, given the intense coverage here,” Holmes admitted.
And the White House isn’t happy. Not just because the meeting details leaked—but because they were talking about Epstein at all.
“They are doing a lot right now to prepare their strategy on responding to the Epstein scandal, to the ongoing situation,” Holmes said. “They have spent a number of weeks really on the defensive. They are trying to take back the narrative, and they believe they all need to be on the same page in order to do that.”
Watch the clip below from CNN.
