Ever since 2016, when he rode down a golden escalator and took his first steps into the U.S. political arena, Donald Trump has had a problem: For the better part of a decade, he enjoyed a close (and quite public) friendship with a man who would later go on to be known as one of the most notorious sexual predators in modern American history. That man, of course, was Jeffrey Epstein. A supposed billionaire, Epstein would befriend many wealthy and powerful individuals before he died in a prison cell in 2019. Among his associations, however, few have loomed larger or been more publicly speculated about than the one he shared with the current U.S. president.
It can now be said that Trump has definitively fumbled this problem. His second term in the White House was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to use the gears of power to stage-manage away his association with the dead pedophile. Instead, he has bungled the opportunity, falling prey to a weakness in his leadership style that has long been obvious: talking too much and doing too little.
While campaigning, Trump signaled to voters that he would bring newfound transparency to the Epstein issue. However, his administration has done little since he took office except disclose a dump of old documents in a much-maligned event that was swiftly dismissed as a “publicity stunt.” The administration may have underestimated the degree to which MAGA actually cares about this issue, and seems to have thought that Trumpers would be satisfied with the limited media antics it could provide. They haven’t been. Indeed, voters have become increasingly incensed over the last few months, as the government has weirdly stalled the release of further information.
This week, Trump’s former buddy, Elon Musk, brought the issue back to national attention when he accused the government of not releasing more information about Epstein because of Trump’s ties to the dead pedophile. Amidst a very public breakup between the Tesla CEO and the President, Musk tweeted: “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!” Musk wrote on X.
Musk’s jab was a juvenile attack, but it nevertheless puts the President in a precarious position. Because he has ignored his constituents’ calls for transparency around Epstein, Trump has now allowed the issue to fall into the hands of his enemies. Following Musk’s viral remark on Thursday, Democratic lawmakers seized on the issue as a way to further dig the knife in. Several Democrats sent a letter to Trump’s Attorney General, Pam Bondi, asking her to immediately look into Musk’s claims.
“We write with profound alarm at allegations that files relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have not been declassified and released to the American public because they personally implicate President Trump,” the letter, signed by Rep. Robert Garcia, and Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, reads. “We ask that you immediately clarify whether this allegation is true and respond to this letter with the requested information and documentation.” Both Garcia and Lynch are on committees devoted to government transparency and oversight.
Breaking! FBI Director Kash Patel Asked by Joe Rogan If Elon Had Access To The Epstein Files In Reference To Trump / Musk Online Feud.
Kash won’t comment “I know my lane and that ain’t it” pic.twitter.com/pxNvlvVPHl
— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) June 6, 2025
At the same time, another Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Dan Goldberg, of New York, sent a letter to Bondi, in which he harangued her for delaying the release of the files. “I write to express my grave concern about what appears to be a concerted effort by you to delay and even prevent the release of the Jeffrey Epstein Files in their entirety – potentially at the direction of the sitting President of the United States, Donald J. Trump,” Goldberg wrote.
Were the Democrats to really dig in on the Epstein issue, it could prove disastrous for the Trump administration. Having clearly disappointed Trump’s own base with his inability to satisfyingly answer their questions about the pedophile, it’s not out of the question that they might turn to anyone else who seems interested in shedding further light on the case.
That could end up being really bad for the Trump camp since the ties between some of its members and Epstein have always been problematic. Trump’s longtime ally, Steve Bannon, has been accused of being “friends” with Epstein. This week, the New York Times reported that Epstein invested $40 million in a company co-founded by Peter Thiel, one of Trump’s earliest backers. Thiel, whose secretive firm Palantir has taken a central role in the new Trump administration, also met with the pedophile several times in 2014. Even Musk, himself, was subpoenaed in a court case involving Epstein.
Epstein is the problem that won’t go away. He is also a problem that is abstract and intangible enough to seem small to a politician beset by more immediate and pressing concerns. But Epstein has never been a small problem. As an avatar for the darkness and corruption endemic to the current political order, he looms large over the national consciousness—a smirking ghost intent on haunting whatever wealthy men were ever foolish enough to take a call or a lunch with him or, in Trump’s case, to party with in dimly lit nightclubs.
