Donald Trump‘s administration has faced mounting criticism over its handling of documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein, as growing evidence of the US President’s relationship to the late convicted paedophile continues to be unearthed.
Trump was friends with Epstein in the late 1990s and early 2000s, describing him as a “terrific guy” during an interview with New York Magazine in 2002.
In 2019, after Epstein’s arrest on federal sex trafficking charges, Trump said he had a “falling out with him a long time ago”. “I don’t think I’ve spoken to him for 15 years,” Trump said. “I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you. I was not a fan of his.”
Conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein’s dealings with powerful men as well as his 2019 suicide in jail have swirled for years, and appear to be growing as the White House attempts to close them down.
The US President has never been accused of any criminal activity in regard to his association with Epstein. However, Trump has not been able to shake off questions about their relationship, with scrutiny growing after his administration decided not to release documents relating to investigations into the disgraced financier.
Here, The i Paper takes a closer look at the timeline of events around Trump’s handling of the so-called Epstein files.
3 September 2024: Trump said he would have “no problem” releasing more files relating to Epstein’s case if he were elected as US President. Speaking to the podcast host Lex Fridman about the release of evidence linked to the financier, he said: “It probably will be, by the way, probably”. He added that he would “certainly take a look at it”.
21 February 2025: Attorney General Pam Bondi was asked about an incriminating “client list” allegedly held by Epstein. She told Fox News it was “sitting on my desk right now to review”.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has come under fire over not releasing the ‘Epstein files’ (Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds /AFP via Getty Images)27 February: The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it would be releasing the “first phase of declassified files” relating to Epstein and his “sexual exploitation of over 250 underage girls at his homes in New York and Florida, among other locations”. The department admitted the files largely contained “documents that have been previously leaked but never released in a formal capacity by the US Government”.
While Trump’s name was mentioned nine times across the hundreds of pages made public, including in flight logs and Epstein’s so-called black book of contacts, this did not prove any wrongdoing by the US President.
1 March 2025: Bondi vowed Americans would “get the full Epstein files”, with the exception of a few redactions to “protect grand jury information and confidential witnesses”. She said “everything’s going to come out to the public”.
22 April 2025: Trump promised that “100 per cent of all of these documents are being delivered”.
May 2025: Administration begins downplaying conspiracy theories
18 May: FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who were previously among some of the most prominent Trump supporters calling for the “truth” about Epstein to be released, appear together on Fox News to say Epstein indeed died by suicide. It marked the administration’s first attempt to reject conspiracy theories around the disgraced financier’s death.
Trump himself had retweeted a theory suggesting the disgraced billionaire’s death was linked to Bill Clinton, before demanding a “full investigation” into Epstein’s death and his ties to the former US president. He said he had “no idea” whether the death was linked to Clinton.
5 June: Elon Musk accuses Trump of not releasing the Epstein files because his name appears in the documents, amid the pair’s public fallout.
In an X post which has since been deleted, Musk said: “Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”
Trump dismissed the accusation, telling NBC News: “That’s called ‘old news.’ That’s been old news. That has been talked about for years. Even Epstein’s lawyer said I had nothing to do with it – it’s old news.”
7 July 2025: Then, in a major blow to the hopes of those who expected the files to be released, a joint memo is released. Despite all the hype around the release of “the full Epstein files”, the DOJ and FBI say “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted”. The memo also said no incriminating “client list” had been found and confirmed the administration’s belief that Epstein died by suicide.
8 July: Trump shrugged off questions regarding the memo, calling them “a desecration”. “Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy’s been talked about for years,” Trump said. “You’re asking – we have [the floods in] Texas, we have this, we have all of the things, and are people still talking about this guy? This creep? That is unbelievable.”
17 July: The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump and others wrote letters for an album celebrating the financier’s 50th birthday in 2003 – three years before sex abuse allegations emerged against him. Trump’s alleged message to Epstein read: “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
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square JEFFREY EPSTEINBill Clinton included with Donald Trump in Epstein birthday album, report states
Read MoreThe letter is also said to have featured the signature “Donald”. The US President denied writing the letter to Epstein, calling it “false, malicious, and defamatory”.
18 July: Trump filed a lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch, News Corp and two reporters from The Wall Street Journal, seeking at least $10bn (£7.5bn) in damages. “We have just filed a powerhouse Lawsuit against everyone involved in publishing the false, malicious, defamatory, fake news ‘article’ in the useless ‘rag’ that is, The Wall Street Journal,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. On the same day, the US Justice Department asked a federal court to unseal grand jury transcripts in Epstein’s 2019 sex trafficking case.
23 July: A US judge in Florida denied the Justice Department’s renewed bid to unseal court files on Epstein that relate to his prosecution there. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported that Bondi told Trump his name appeared in files relating to Epstein in May.
While this does not amount to proof of any wrongdoing, it raised questions about why the administration changed its tune in recent months on releasing the files. The reports also contradict Trump’s claim, made in July, that Bondi had not told him he appears in the files. When asked by reporters, the US President said: “No, no, she’s given us just a very quick briefing.”
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