President Donald Trump was informed in May by Attorney General Pam Bondi that his name appeared multiple times in internal Department of Justice documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
According to the report, Bondi briefed Trump during a White House meeting weeks before the Justice Department reversed course on plans to publicly release the Epstein-related records, despite Bondi’s earlier pledges to do so.
The DOJ confirmed Wednesday that Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche had discussed the Epstein files with Trump during a “routine briefing,” but did not clarify when that conversation took place.
The Journal also reported that Trump was told the documents contained references to numerous other prominent individuals, and that the DOJ viewed many of the mentions — including those involving Trump — as unverified hearsay tied to past social interactions with Epstein. Being named in the files does not imply misconduct, the outlet noted.
The DOJ’s decision to withhold the documents sparked backlash from some of Trump’s most loyal supporters, many of whom have pushed conspiracy theories about Epstein for years. In response to the criticism, Trump last week directed Bondi to pursue the unsealing of grand jury transcripts from the federal investigations into Epstein and his longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Trump and Epstein were once social acquaintances, though the former president has repeatedly claimed they fell out long before Epstein died by suicide in federal custody in 2019 while facing child sex trafficking charges. Epstein’s circle included numerous wealthy and powerful figures, among them Britain’s Prince Andrew.
Asked by a reporter last week whether Bondi had told him his name appeared in the files, Trump replied, “No, no. She gave us a very quick briefing,” and dismissed the contents of the documents as fabrications.
“These files were made up by [former FBI director] James Comey, Obama, and Biden,” Trump claimed.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung responded to the Journal’s story by defending Trump’s actions, stating, “The President kicked [Epstein] out of Mar-a-Lago for being a creep.” He dismissed the reporting as “fake news” akin to the Russia investigation.
In a joint statement, Bondi and Blanche reiterated that the DOJ and FBI thoroughly reviewed the Epstein files and concluded that no further legal action was warranted. They also said a court motion has been filed to unseal related grand jury materials.
Separately, The Wall Street Journal recently published a 2003 letter Trump allegedly sent to Epstein for his 50th birthday — reportedly at Maxwell’s request — featuring a cartoonish drawing of a nude woman. Trump has strongly denied writing or signing the letter, calling it “a fake thing” and announcing a $10 billion defamation suit against The Journal, News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, and others involved in the publication.
Dow Jones, which owns The Journal, said in a statement: “We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”
