Trump complains Epstein files are damaging people who ‘innocently met’ him

Donald Trump has broken his silence on the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, complaining that people who “innocently met” the convicted paedophile could have their reputations destroyed. File image from September 2025, showing protesters demanding Donald Trump release unredacted Epstein files.Photograph: Mehmet Eser/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images In his first comments since the justice department began releasing the materials on Friday, the US president on Monday expressed sympathy for prominent Democrats who have come under renewed scrutiny over their associations with Epstein. “I like Bill Clinton ,” Trump said of the former president, who featured prominently in the first batch of photos. “I’ve always gotten along with Bill Clinton; I’ve been nice to him, he’s been nice to me ... I hate to see photos come out of him but this is what the Democrats - mostly Democrats and a couple of bad Republicans - are asking for, so they’re giving their photos of me too.” Trump, who had a long association with Epstein and for much of this year resisted the release of the files, was speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida. “Everybody was friendly with this guy,” he claimed. “But no, I don’t like the pictures of Bill Clinton being shown. I don’t like the pictures of other people being shown - I think it’s a terrible thing. “I think Bill Clinton’s a big boy, he can handle it, but you probably have pictures being exposed of other people that innocently met Jeffrey Epstein years ago and they’re highly respected bankers and lawyers and others.” Trump added that a “lot of people are very angry that pictures are being released of other people that really had nothing to do with Epstein. But they’re in a picture with him because he was at a party and you ruin a reputation of somebody.” He cited the example of Larry Summers, a Harvard professor and Democratic former treasury secretary who announced in November that he would be stepping back from public life after email exchanges with Epstein came to light. Trump, who has tried to dismiss the Epstein files as “hoax”, also tried to cast them as a distraction from his own party’s achievements. “What this whole thing is with Epstein is a way of trying to deflect from the tremendous success that the Republican party has. “Like, for instance, today we’re building the biggest ships in the world, most powerful ships in world, and they’re asking me questions about Jeffrey Epstein. I thought that was finished.” In fact there is no end in sight. The Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA) , passed nearly unanimously by Congress and signed into law by Trump, mandated the complete release of the Epstein files by Friday of last week. But the justice department has released only one batch of documents so far, prompting an outcry from survivors and members of Congress. On Monday, Clinton’s spokesperson, Angel Urena, issued a statement urging the justice department to release any...

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