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3 Feb 2026 16:43
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  •   Home > News > International

    Takeaways from the many mentions of Donald Trump in newly released Epstein files

    Donald Trump's name appears many times in the Epstein files — including on an FBI list of men who are named as subjects of "salacious information". So what have we learned about the US president?


    Donald Trump's name appears hundreds of times in the most recent release of the Epstein files — including on an FBI list of men who are named as subjects of "salacious information". 

    But, so far, there are no bombshells that threaten Mr Trump's political standing, or major new revelations about his well-documented friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

    Being named in the Epstein files does not imply wrongdoing. Among the 3.5 million new files, many of the mentions of Mr Trump are in news articles and other innocuous public documents, or in passing in private emails.

    On the weekend, Mr Trump said he had not seen the new files.

    "But I was told by some very important people that not only does it absolve me, it's the opposite of what people were hoping, you know, the radical left," he said.

    So what do the Epstein files say about the US president? Here are some of the most notable mentions uncovered in the new documents so far.

    The FBI received tips alleging abuse by Trump

    The documents include an email from an FBI worker that outlines specific allegations against Mr Trump and other prominent figures.

    The allegations appear to be based on unvetted and unverified tips received by the FBI. The email, from August last year, says some of the reports were second-hand tips. It appears they were not deemed sufficiently credible to investigate.

    They include claims of sexual misconduct and abuse by Mr Trump, including against girls as young as 13 and 14.

    Some callers complained about events at alleged sex parties where Mr Trump, Epstein and Maxwell were said to be present.

    Some of the complaints were referenced in previously released files.

    In response to an inquiry, the White House pointed the ABC to a Justice Department statement, which said in part:

    "This production may include fake or falsely submitted images, documents or videos, as everything that was sent to the FBI by the public was included in the production that is responsive to the Act. Some of the documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election. To be clear, the claims are unfounded and false, and if they have a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already."

    US Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche, who has previously worked as Mr Trump's personal lawyer, told CNN on Sunday, local time:

    "It turns out there was a number of claims made by either … anonymous people or somebody, for example, calling and saying, 'I used to have a roommate who told me this sensational story.' So just, you know, obviously that's not something that can be really investigated, right? 'What's your roommate's name? I don't remember,' So that's what that's about."

    Some details, including information about the people who made the complaints, are blacked out.

    A woman told the FBI Maxwell 'presented' her to Trump

    One heavily redacted document shows that, in 2021, the FBI interviewed a woman who appears to have been a victim of Epstein and Maxwell.

    The woman told investigators that Maxwell, who recruited and groomed victims for Epstein, once took her to a party in New York.

    Maxwell "seemed very excited there would be a lot of great men for [the woman] to meet", the woman told the FBI. At the party, Maxwell "presented" the woman to Mr Trump.

    They had a 20-minute conversation, and Mr Trump invited the woman to his Mar-a-Lago resort, "where she was given a tour by Trump with Epstein and Maxwell present".

    The interview notes say "nothing happened between [the woman] and Trump", but Maxwell said things to her like: "Oh I think he likes you. Aren't you lucky. This is great."

    Based on the unredacted interview notes, the woman did not accuse Mr Trump of wrongdoing, but described Maxwell as an extremely dangerous person.

    Epstein considered contacting Trump to discuss a victim

    An email included in the document release shows Epstein was considering contacting Mr Trump in 2011 — years after the president says the pair had fallen out.

    The email indicates Epstein wanted to talk about Virginia Roberts Giuffre, whose allegations about Epstein and former prince Andrew had begun to appear in the British press.

    Ms Roberts Giuffre, who died last year, alleged Epstein sex-trafficked her as a teenager to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. The then-prince settled a lawsuit brought by Ms Roberts Giuffre with a payout in 2022.

    Epstein's 2011 email was addressed to private investigator Bill Riley. It said: "before I call trump. with regard vrginina [sic] ,, are there any other alternatives."

    It is not clear what Epstein specifically wanted to discuss with Mr Trump, or if he ended up making the call.

    Ms Roberts Giuffre had earlier worked in the spa at Mr Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, where she was recruited by Maxwell, initially to give "massages" to Epstein.

    Mr Trump has previously said he banned Epstein from his resort because of the way he "stole" Ms Roberts Giuffre and other women.

    Trump now wants to sue a writer

    Mr Trump was asked about the newly released Epstein files as he returned to Washington after spending the weekend in Florida.

    After saying the documents had absolved him, he quickly shifted the focus to author Michael Wolff, who has written several books about Mr Trump.

    "Wolff, who was a third-rate writer, was conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to hurt me, politically or otherwise," Mr Trump said.

    "We'll probably sue Wolff on it," he said, and added he may also sue Epstein's estate because Epstein "was conspiring with Wolff to do harm to me politically".

    "That's not a friend," he said of Epstein.

    Wolff has described Epstein as a source for his writing.

    Last year, Democrats released private emails between Epstein and Wolff, including one from 2019 in which Epstein said Trump "knew about the girls".

    The newly released files include more correspondence between Epstein and Wolff.

    In a 2016 email, Wolff offered Epstein some advice about how to offer a "counter narrative" to a soon-to-be-released book about Epstein and his crimes.

    "I believe Trump offers an ideal opportunity," Wolff wrote to Epstein. He said "becoming an anti-Trump voice gives you a certain political cover".

    In a Substack post, Wolff said he did not know what precisely Trump was referring to when the president threatened to sue him.

    "But I doubt the specifics of whatever conspiracy he might imagine much matter to Trump," Wolff wrote.

    "In any controversy or politically dangerous situation, he likes to single out a particular person to blame or attack. He doesn't want the fight to be about the subject at hand; he wants it to be a fight with somebody — a fight in this case, with, as he identifies me, a 'third-rate writer'."

    So is that it?

    In the US, the biggest controversy from the latest document release is arguably not about what they contain. Instead, a lot of the anger is over what has been redacted and left out.

    Mr Blanche, the deputy attorney-general, has said the Department of Justice has released all the documents it is legally required to, except a small number that are still waiting for a judge to rule on.

    But survivor groups, Democrats and some Republicans have criticised the department for withholding millions of files that had initially been identified as potentially relevant.

    Democrat Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie, who were behind the legislation to release the files, are now demanding access to the unredacted documents.

    "They've released at best half the documents, but even those shocked the conscience of this country," Mr Khanna told NBC News on Sunday, local time. "It's frankly one of the largest scandals, in my view, in our country's history."

    Mr Blanche said the congressmen would be allowed to view the documents.

    "We have nothing to hide," he told America's ABC News. "Our doors are open if they want to come review any of the materials that we produced."

    © 2026 ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved

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