Why Won't Trump Release the Epstein Files?

What's He Hiding?

It’s a very long and winding trip from “the list is sitting on my desk to be reviewed” to “there is no list.”

Will Bondi be fired by Trump to appease the MAGA base that now wants blood because they are (justifiably) outraged over the (patently-ridiculous) assertion that no list exists?

No. Trump will let her twist in the wind, and she will take all the heat to keep it off Trump, but he won’t fire her, ESPECIALLY if he thinks she’s actually seen a list, because, according to Trump’s former confidant Elon Musk, Trump is definitely in the Epstein files.

Will this finally be the breaking point where the MAGA faithful lose faith in their Messiah?

Of course not.

They will fuss and fume for a few days at Bondi — not at Trump who directs her every step — and then they will move on.

Because deep down, they know the truth…. Trump is keeping the Epstein files under wraps because that’s what people who have something to hide, do — they hide things.

Bill Clinton admits to being on the “Lolita Express” (the nickname for Epstein’s private Boeing 727) “only” four times — he took trips with Epstein to Europe, Asia, and Africa in connection with the Clinton Foundation. That’s what Clinton says. Other sources say he took 26 different flights on the Lolita Express.

Bill Gates logged one flight (on Epstein’s smaller Gulfstream, not on the 727 Lolita Express) and had “numerous” dinner meetings with Epstein in Manhattan… between 2011 and 2014 — all AFTER Epstein had pleaded guilty in 2008 to solicitation of an underaged girl for sex. Gates’ association with Epstein led to his divorce from Melinda — she consulted divorce lawyers in October 2019 right after the New York Times wrote a piece about the relationship between Gates and Epstein.

Donald Trump and Epstein were both prominent figures in New York and Palm Beach social scenes. They reportedly met in the late Eighties, possibly at Mar-a-Lago. Trump purchased Mar-a-Lago in 1985; Epstein bought his Palm Beach mansion in 1990 — it was located at 358 El Brillo Way, only a mile away via South Ocean Boulevard. The Palm Beach social scene, especially in the winters, was very active, but small. A now-infamous 1992 video from NBC shows Trump and Epstein at Mar-a-Lago, laughing and chatting while surrounded by cheerleaders.

In 2002, Trump told New York Magazine, “I've known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do—and many of them are on the younger side.”

In 2004 Trump and Epstein got in a bidding war for a foreclosure auction on a lavish Palm Beach property known as Maison de L’Amitié. Their relationship soured.

In May 2006, Epstein was charged by the Palm Beach police with multiple counts of unlawful sex with a minor. He pled guilty to a single charge in 2008: "solicitation of a minor for prostitution." He received a sweetheart deal that allowed him to serve a paltry 13 months in the Palm Beach jail while being on "work release" for 12 hours a day, six days a week. The deal was worked out by his attorney Alan Dershowitz and then U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta who claimed he was told Epstein worked for the intelligence community and was above his pay grade.

When Trump won in 2016 and began his presidency in 2017, he named Acosta to be his labor secretary. This prompted the Miami Herald's 2018 reporting that led to Acosta resigning in 2019. A massive public outcry over the leniency of the Dershowitz-Acosta deal was followed by new federal charges being brought against Epstein in the summer of 2019.

On July 6, 2019, Epstein was arrested at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey upon returning from Paris. He was charged with sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. The charges related to alleged abuse of dozens of underage girls between 2002 and 2005 in New York and Florida.

A month later, on August 10, 2019, Epstein was found dead in his jail cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.

On July 2, 2020, Ghislaine Maxwell was indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts; enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts; conspiracy to transport minors to engage in illegal sex acts; transportation of a minor to engage in illegal sex acts; and, sex trafficking conspiracy.

At a White House briefing on July 21, 2020, while Ghislaine Maxwell was percolating in the news, a reporter asked Trump if he thought Maxwell would “turn over powerful people.” Trump responded, “I don’t know. I haven’t really been following it too much. I just wish her well… I’ve met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach… But I wish her well, whatever it is.”

In an August 2020 interview with Axios he was given an opportunity to explain why he would send well wishes to someone on trial for such charges. Trump reaffirmed his support for her saying, “Yeah, I wish her well, I’d wish you well, I’d wish a lot of people well. Good luck. Let them prove somebody was guilty. Her friend or boyfriend was either killed or committed suicide in jail.”

In March of 2021, the feds added an additional charge for Maxwell: “sex trafficking of a minor.” This charge related specifically to grooming and abusing a 14-year-old girl between 2001–2004 at Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion — during the time Trump was so close to Epstein, before the 2004 falling out over real estate.

In December of 2021, Maxwell was found guilty of all sex charges, acquitted only of one related perjury charge.

In a Daily Beast podcast today (July 10, 2025), journalist Michael Wolf said Trump did consider pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell after her July 2020 arrest — primarily out of concern that she might reveal damaging details about his long friendship with Epstein. On the podcast Wolff recounted that Trump grew “very wary” and was reportedly asking associates: “What could she say — what would she say?” Wolff said the discussions about a pardon occurred within Trump’s inner circle and advisors warned him that issuing a pardon to Maxwell would trigger a “massive public backlash.”

Trump’s spokesperson denied a pardon for Maxwell was ever considered.

In the past, Michael Wolff had extensive access to the White House while researching and writing “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.” Wolff said he frequently sat in the West Wing, calling his access a “semi‑permanent seat on a couch.” Wolff also conducted over 200 interviews in preparation for the Trump memoir that was published in 2018 in spite of Trump seeking a cease and desist order to stop the publication. Wolff also has a 2017 taped interview with Epstein that is 1 hour and 44 minutes in length. Epstein told Wolff that Trump first had sex with Melania on the Lolita Express.

In context, information regarding pardon discussions in 2020, would have had to come to Wolff by leaked second-hand accounts as the timeframe is after his unique access had ended.

If Trump has nothing to hide, there’s no legitimate reason for him to keep directing Bondi to claim there are no names of important people in the Epstein files — he can easily settle the question by releasing the entire file with the names of victims redacted.

This is a key difference between Democrats and the MAGA faithful… Democrats want the files made public, even if it ensnares Bill Clinton and Bill Gates and others with Democratic leanings — we want the truth first and foremost. With Democrats, the truth and country always come first, always before party.

The MAGA cult of personality will continue clamoring for the release of the files until they realize the truth: Trump has something to hide. Then they will quietly let it slide and we’ll never hear another word about it

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