Why Musk Hit a Nerve by Saying Trump Is in the Epstein Files

Yahoo

13 hours ago

Why is Elon Musk so sure President Donald Trump is in the so-called 'Epstein Files?'
In a bombshell X post Thursday, Musk levied accusations against the president claiming that his name could be found in files pertaining to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking case.
'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 Thursday. 'Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.'
Epstein was accused of sex trafficking minors and conspiracy to engage in the sex trafficking of minors, which he pleaded not guilty to, in 2019. A month after his arrest, he died by suicide in his jail cell, according to authorities.
For years, right-wing circles have called on authorities to release all documents related to Epstein's investigation, including flight logs of his private plane, client names, and inquiries into his suicide.
Though the Trump administration has consistently promised to declassify the Epstein files, they have yet to divulge any new details on Epstein's case, as pointed out by Musk.
In a statement to CNN, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt weighed in on Musk's accusations and said: 'This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the 'One, Big, Beautiful Bill' because it does not include the policies he wanted. The president is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again.'
The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast's request for comment on Musk's accusations.
Though Trump has spent the past decade fiercely distancing himself from Epstein, the two had a documented relationship during the late 1980s to early 2000s. In 1992, for example, they were filmed speaking and laughing together at a party in Mar-a-Lago. Years later, in 1997, they were pictured together again at a Victoria's Secret Angels party.
In a 2002 interview with New York magazine, Trump even praised Epstein as a 'terrific guy.'
'I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,' Trump said at the time. '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. No doubt about it—Jeffrey enjoys his social life.'
Flight logs released in 2021 as part of the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's accomplice, also indicated that Trump flew on Epstein's plane seven times throughout their friendship. 'I was never on Epstein's Plane, or at his 'stupid' Island,' Trump said in a 2024 Truth Social post.
Whatever relationship the two seemed to have, however, came to a halt in 2004 following a real estate feud, according to The Washington Post. At the time, the two men were both eyeing a Palm Beach property, Maison de L'Amitié, for different reasons and subsequently went head-to-head in a bidding war over it.
In the years to follow, Trump grew to become an outspoken critic of Epstein's, both in public and behind closed doors.
Bradley Edwards, an attorney who represented a number of Epstein's alleged victims, told The Conscious Resistance Network in 2018 that Trump was the 'only person' who agreed to talk to him when he was serving subpoenas during an Epstein investigation in 2009 and that he was 'very helpful in the information he gave.'
'He is the only person who picked up the phone and said 'Let's just talk, I'll give you as much time as you want, I'll tell you what you need to know,'' Edwards said, adding that Trump 'gave no indication whatsoever that he was involved in anything untoward.'
One of the president's former 2016 campaign aides, Sam Nunberg, also told The Washington Post that Trump had once called Epstein a 'real creep' and that he had barred him from Mar-a-Lago as a result.
When probed on Epstein following his arrest in July 2019, Trump told a reporter: 'Well I knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him… I had a falling out with him a long time ago. I don't think I've spoken to him for 15 years. I wasn't a fan… That I can tell you. I was not a fan of his.'
A few days later, he reiterated that he 'had no idea' about Epstein's alleged crimes and added 'Jeffrey Epstein was not somebody that I respected. I threw him out.'
Trump more recently addressed Epstein during a September 2024 interview with Lex Fridman where he said: '[Epstein] had some nice assets that he'd throw around like islands, but a lot of big people went to that island. But fortunately, I was not one of them.' The president has notably not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
Epstein, however, had a different version of events.
In 2017, the financier spoke at length with author Michael Wolff as part of his research for his 2018 bestselling book Fire and Fury.
In tape recordings of their conversation, shared by Wolff to the Daily Beast in November, Epstein described himself as Trump's 'closest friend for 10 years' and alleged that the two enjoyed going to 'Atlantic City to try to find girls in the casino.'
'He's a horrible human being,' Epstein, a convicted sex offender, said of Trump in the tapes. 'He does nasty things to his best friends, best friends' wives, anyone who he first tries to gain their trust and uses it to do bad things to them.'
At the time, Trump's representatives referred to the tapes as 'false smears' and 'election interference' as they were published days before the November 2024 election.
Trump's team further told the Daily Beast that Wolff is 'a disgraced writer who routinely fabricates lies in order to sell fiction books because he clearly has no morals or ethics.'
'He waited until days before the election to make outlandish false smears all in an effort to engage in blatant election interference on behalf of Kamala Harris. He's a failed journalist that is resorting to lying for attention,' they continued.