The release of emails that suggest Donald Trump knew about Jeffrey Epstein’s conduct is arguably the most significant development in the saga tying the US president to the convicted sex offender.
Epstein’s suggestion in the private emails that Trump “knew about the girls” and “spent hours” with one of his victims comes after the president spent the summer batting away questions about his relationship with Epstein, who was once a close friend.
The story now hovering over Trump is largely one of conservatives’ own making. Right-wing commentators and media figures spent years pushing conspiracy theories about Epstein’s death, apparently without realising Trump might be implicated in any release.
The saga has pitted Trump, who was friends with Epstein for many years before later disavowing the financier, against his base, with Democrats eager to capitalise on an issue that has long resonated with voters across the political spectrum.
RM Block
This is how we got here.
Epstein charged
July 6th, 2019
Epstein is charged with federal sex-trafficking crimes in a Manhattan court. Prosecutors allege that Epstein, who was taken into custody, “sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls” from 2002 to 2005 at homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida. Epstein pleads not guilty.
The charges come more than a decade after Epstein and the Miami US attorney’s office reached a deal that ended a federal investigation involving at least 40 teenage girls. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to state charges, served 13 months in jail and registered as a sex offender.
Epstein dies
August 10th, 2019
Guards find Epstein dead in his cell at Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. On August 16th, New York’s chief medical examiner rules that the cause of death was suicide, but lawyers for Epstein say they are dissatisfied with the medical examiner’s conclusions.
Trump shares conspiracy theory on Epstein’s death
August 11th, 2019
Trump shares a tweet from right-wing comedian Terrence Williams, which claims Bill and Hillary Clinton were involved in Epstein’s death. After criticism, Trump doubles down, telling reporters: “The question you have to ask is, did Bill Clinton go to the island? Because Epstein had an island. That was not a good place, as I understand it, and I was never there.” Trump adds: “So you have to ask, did Bill Clinton go to the island? That’s the question. If you find that out, you’re going to know a lot.”
A spokesman for the Clintons says the family knows nothing about the crimes committed by Epstein, who was known to have a number of famous and powerful associates, including Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. Trump himself was friends with Epstein, and in 2002 said he had known Epstein for 15 years, describing him as a “terrific guy”. The pair later fell out following a bidding war on a Florida property.
The theories spread
August 2019
The official ruling that Epstein took his own life does little to quell conspiracy theorists. Much of the commentary, particularly from the right wing, focuses on Epstein’s relationship with liberal figures, including Clinton. The phrase “Epstein didn’t kill himself” begins to spread online, with Joe Rogan and even Republican members of Congress posting it on social media.
Maxwell charged
December 29th, 2021
Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s ex-partner and long-time confidante, is convicted of sex trafficking. The judge says Maxwell is “guilty of one of the worst crimes imaginable: facilitating and participating in the sexual abuse of children. Crimes that she committed with her long-time partner and co-conspirator, Jeffrey Epstein.”
Epstein documents made public
January 3rd, 2024
A trove of court documents identifying associates of Epstein is unsealed. The documents, which had been filed as part of a lawsuit against Maxwell in 2015 by one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre.
Bill Clinton, Michael Jackson, David Copperfield and Trump are among those named in the documents – although none of the men are accused of wrongdoing. Giuffre claims that Epstein and Maxwell forced her into a sexual encounter with Andrew Mountbatten Windsor at age 17, and Giuffre sues him over the alleged sexual abuse. The suit is settled in early 2022. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Trump asked about Epstein on campaign trail
September 3rd, 2024
Trump, running for president, is asked in an interview if he would declassify “the 9/11 files” and “the JFK files”. He says yes. Trump is then asked if he would declassify “the Epstein files”, and initially says yes, but adds: “I think that [declassifying the Epstein files], less so, because you don’t know – you don’t want to affect people’s lives if there’s phoney stuff in there, because there’s a lot of phoney stuff with that whole world.”
List on desk
February 21st, 2025
In an interview with Fox News, Pam Bondi is asked: “The DoJ [department of justice] may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients, will that really happen?”
Bondi replies: “It’s sitting on my desk right now to review.”
Bondi will later suggest she was referring to Epstein case files, not a client list.
Some files released to conservative influencers
February 27th, 2025
After Trump and JD Vance pledge during the 2024 election campaign that they would release files relating to Epstein’s crimes and contacts, the US department of justice gives a group of conservative commentators binders labelled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1”. The files contain little new information, leaving conspiracy theorists disappointed.
Bondi describes the documents as the “first phase of files”, and in a statement, the department of justice says it “remains committed to transparency and intends to release the remaining documents upon review and redaction to protect the identities of Epstein’s victims”.
Musk accuses Trump
June 5th, 2025
Amid a row over Trump’s proposed tax bill, Elon Musk posts on X: “Time to drop the really big bomb. @realdonaldtrump is in the Epstein files. That is why they have not been made public.”
Musk later deletes the tweet.
No client list
July 7th
The department of justice announces that Epstein did not keep a client list and says no more files related to his sex-trafficking investigation would be made public. The department releases an 11-hour video of the scene outside Epstein’s cell during hours before and after his death, showing that no one entered or left the room. But a minute of footage is missing, prompting further speculation. Bondi says the missing minute is due to the bureau of prisons resetting the video.
Backlash begins
July 7th
Right-wing media and commentators begin to lash out at the department of justice. Laura Loomer, the 32-year-old conspiracy theorist whose influence over Trump has come under scrutiny, accuses Bondi of “covering up child sex crimes”. “NO ONE IS BUYING THIS!! Next the DOJ will say ‘Actually, Jeffrey Epstein never even existed.’ This is over the top sickening,” Alex Jones, the right-wing commentator and conspiracy theorist, writes on social media. On Truth Social, the reactionary, Trump-owned platform where people are usually united in their praise for the president and his administration, numerous users criticise the government over Epstein.
Row at the White House
July 9th
Dan Bongino, the deputy director of the FBI who spent years pushing conspiracy theories about Epstein’s death, reportedly clashes with Bondi at the White House. Bondi accused Bongino of leaking to news outlets, after NewsNation reported that the FBI had wanted to release more information on Epstein “months ago”, but was prevented from doing so.
Resignation reports
July 11th
NBC News reports that Bongino is considering stepping down from his post at the FBI amid the Bondi row.
“Bongino is out-of-control furious,” a source tells NBC News. “This destroyed his career. He’s threatening to quit and torch Pam unless she’s fired.”
Trump calls for calm
July 12th
Trump writes a lengthy Truth Social post pleading with his supporters.
“What’s going on with my ‘boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals?’ They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening. We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and ‘selfish people’ are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein.”
Trump adds: “One year ago our Country was DEAD, now it’s the ‘HOTTEST’ Country anywhere in the World. Let’s keep it that way, and not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about.”
The post is the first time Trump has been “ratioed” on Truth Social: more people comment on the post than like it, which typically suggests disagreement.
House blocks files release
July 14th
Republican politicians move to block a Democratic effort to force the release of Epstein files. Grand Old Party members on the US House rules committee vote down a Democratic-led amendment that would have allowed Congress to vote on whether the FBI’s Epstein evidence – which includes micro cassettes, computer hard drives, DVDs and CDs – should be released.
Johnson breaks with Trump
July 15th
Mike Johnson, the Republican House speaker and fierce Trump ally, calls for Epstein documents to be released. “It’s a very delicate subject, but we should put everything out there and let the people decide it,” Johnson tells a right-wing podcaster. The speaker joins a small but growing number of Republicans demanding the documents be made public: Chip Roy, Thomas Massie and Ralph Norman, Republican members of the House, all demand more information be released.
Trump calls anyone interested in the Epstein files ‘bad people’
July 15th
Asked why his supporters are so interested in the Epstein case, Trump responds: “I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody. It’s pretty boring stuff. It’s sordid, but it’s boring. I don’t understand why it keeps going.” Trump adds: “I think really only pretty bad people, including fake news, want to keep something like that going.” Then he continues: “But credible information, let them give it. Anything that is credible, I would say, let them have it.”
Trump’s message in Epstein ‘birthday book’ published
September 8th
A 238-page scrapbook given to Epstein for his 50th birthday is made public.
The book includes a message bearing Trump’s signature. Inside a sketch of a woman’s torso, the message depicts an imagined conversation between Trump and Epstein, concluding “Happy birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
Trump’s name and distinctive signature appear below. The White House claims the signature is not Trump’s, despite it appearing identical to numerous public examples.
Emails suggest Trump knew about Epstein’s conduct
November 12th
Democrats release three of Epstein’s email exchanges that suggest Trump knew about the disgraced financier’s conduct.
In a message sent to Maxwell on April 2nd, 2011, Epstein describes Trump as “dog that hasn’t barked”. Epstein writes that Trump “spent hours at my house” with one of his sex-trafficked victims, and notes Trump had “never once been mentioned” in connection with his crimes.
Maxwell replied: “I have been thinking about that …” In a separate message, sent to journalist Michael Wolff in January 2019, Epstein wrote: “Of course [Trump] knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop.”
The third released email exchange, from December 2015, shows Wolff advising Epstein that if Trump claims to have not visited Epstein’s house or flown on his plane, “then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency”. – Guardian
