Trump does damage control after newly released Epstein emails say Trump spent hours with sex trafficking victim at Epstein's home
NPR/PBS poll finds just 20% of Americans approve of Trump's handling of Epstein matter
By Alexander J. Schorr
Image: Best Friends Forever sculpture of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein
November 17, 2025 -- In a surprise reversal, President Trump announced approval of the upcoming Congressional vote to release Justice Department documents and data related to convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein. “We’ll give them everything,” said Trump, who said he would sign a bill to release the “complete” stock of Epstein files if it ends up on his desk.
Trump has been avoiding the press about newly released emails connecting him to Epstein’s criminal sex trafficking of young girls. Trump’s name appeared at least 1,500 times in documents from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein made public last week in the US Congress, according to CBS News.
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released three emails referencing Trump, including one Epstein wrote in 2011 in which he told his confidant Ghislaine Maxwell that Trump had “spent hours” at Epstein’s house with one of Epstein’s trafficking victims. Documents indicate that Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell discussed Trump frequently in newly released emails between 2011 and 2019.
“Of course he knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop,” Epstein wrote in an email to author Michael Wolff on Jan. 31, 2019, the Miami Herald reports. If Trump had knowledge of Epstein's abuse and trafficking of under-age girls, however, he apparently never reported it to law enforcement.
Another newly released email from Epstein referenced potential “photos of Donald and girls in bikinis in my kitchen.” Trump has denied any wrongdoing, calling the story a “hoax,” and saying that his relationship with Epstein ended around 2004. But in a November 2017 email, Epstein said he was planning to spend Thanksgiving with President Trump--after Epstein had been convicted of sexual crimes with minors.
Epstein died in prison during Trump’s first term of office, reportedly by committing suicide.
Trump has consistent denied any knowledge of Epstein’s sexual abuse of women and minors, and has not been charged with wrongdoing in connection with the case. But recent news regarding Trump and the abused underage women associated with Epstein are creating political fallout as media and Congressional investigations threaten to unravel aspects of Trump’s MAGA movement at the seams.
In an exchange between Epstein and Thomas Landon Jr., Epstein said that after two years of dating “Hawaiian Tropic girl Lauren Petrella,” he allegedly gave his “20-year-old girlfriend in [1993]” to Trump. Trump did in fact date this woman, taking her to an event where he met his current wife Melania. According to The Cut, Petrella met Trump in 1998 at the Kit Kat Club in New York during a party thrown by Paolo Zampolli, the owner of the modeling agency. Zampolli became a personal associate of Trump and the Trump organization; he is currently serving as the U.S. Special Representative For Global Partnerships.
Trump claims his falling out with Epstein was because Epstein “stole” young women, including the late Virgina Giuffre, who worked at the spa at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club. Giuffre, a prominent Epstein accuser, long insisted that Trump was not among the men who victimized her. Even if he did not abuse Giuffre, however, Epstein reportedly had around 1,000 victims of sexual abuse, leaving open the possibility that Trump spent time alone with one or more other abused minors.
Epstein’s assertion that Trump was aware of other women in his social circle seemingly referencing Trump’s claim that he kicked Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club for poaching young women who worked there. There is also a blunt and private assessment of Trump that Epstein made during the president's first term: “I told everyone from day one. [E]vil beyond belief, mad,” Epstein wrote in March 2018, stating that Trump “feels alone. [A]nd is nuts !!!”
Epstein said that Trump was “the dog that hasn’t barked,” even musing about letting Trump “hang himself” with comments about their relationship. This piece of information comes from a 2011 email exchange with Ghislaine Maxwell, implying that Trump was being shielded or was not a target for specific reasons. Epstein implies that Donald Trump’s lack of public involvement or mention in the ongoing investigations at the time was suspicious, suggesting a potential underlying reason for his silence or immunity.
Critics suggest that Epstein was implying Trump was involved in his activities but remained silent to avoid scrutiny, or that law enforcement was intentionally avoiding investigating him. At this time, the facts are not proven.
The newly released emails, text messages, and financial records have offered new details about Epstein’s inner circle and his interactions with various influential individuals:
Text messages show that Epstein advised former Trump official Steve Bannon on political messaging and TV appearances in 2018. Epstein suggested talking points for Bannon regarding Trump’s tax cuts and the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation hearings, where Epstein suggested ways to undermine the credibility of Kavanaugh’s accuser. Concurrently, while Bannon has condemned Epstein as a “globalist child molester,” Bannon was not always critical of Epstein: the 15 hours of footage Bannon shot with Epstein were reportedly training for a “60 Minutes-style” redemption tour that never happened, and was paid for by Epstein himself.
Larry Summers accepted philanthropic gifts from Epstein while serving as president of Harvard University. Additionally, Reid Hoffman has acknowledged meeting with Epstein multiple times in professional situations.
The bank JPMorgan Chase has already paid $290 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by Epstein’s survivors, who alleged that the bank ignored red flags in regards to his financial transactions that permitted his sex trafficking operation. The Bank denies any wrongdoing, and claims that the government failed to share crucial information and data.
Trump calls for investigation—but only into Democrats
In response to public pressure, President Trump has requested The US Justice Department to make an investigation into the late financier Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged ties to prominent Democrats and banks. This follows the release of over 20,000 pages of documents from Epstein’s estate by the US House Oversight Committee.
US Attorney Jay Clayton has been asked to lead the investigation into Epstein’s relationships with former President Bill Clinton, former Treasurey Secretary Larry Summers, and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, as well as the banks JPMorgan Chase and Merrill Lynch. This move by the Justice Department has been seen by many as an attempt by the President to shift focus from his past association with Epstein as new emails involving Trump were released.
Emails reveal Epstein said that Bill Clinton had “never” been to his private island, contradicting a claim by Trump. Clinton has consistently denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and has not been accused of wrongdoing by law enforcement. It is known that similar to Trump, Clinton flew on Epstein’s private jet several times before the financier’s 2008 conviction, on behalf of Clinton’s charitable foundation in trips overseas.
Lawmakers are continuing to push for the full release of all government files related to the Epstein investigation, even though the Justice Department previously stated in July 2025 that their review found apparently no additional incriminating evidence or a “client list.”
In spite of this, the 20,000 pages of data pertaining to Epstein that were obtained via a subpoena revealed that Donald Trump’s name appeared 2,000 times, with hundreds of thousands more pages still unreleased.
Afterwards, Trump ordered Pam Bondi to appoint Jay Clayton to investigate Democrats, accelerating a potential political and legal battle which he may not be able to control.
Trump’s Damage Control
Previously, an unsigned memoir from President Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) declared that the issue of “The Epstein Files” had closed, claiming no evidence of blackmail, no client list, and no remaining crimes. Soon after, a bipartisan pressure from Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna pushed forward a discharge petition forcing a vote to compel the DOJ, along with Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino to release the full Epstein Files.
Trump has reportedly met with cabinet members in regards to the leaks of these Epstein files, and it coincides with Trump pressuring Republican Congressional memberLauren Boebert to back off her announced support to release the Epstein files. Trump has also attempted to pressure others like Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia), Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina), as well as Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) to change their votes. Many of these representatives in Washington D.C ran on the release of the Epstein files, as well as the premise of the “America First” platform. Greene says she has received threats as a result of the President’s bullying, but she stated in news interviews that she will not back down from voting for release of the files.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson repeatedly recessed Congress during the government shutdown, preventing a vote to release the Epstein files.. Once Representative Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) was sworn in and became the 218th signer demanding a vote, the vote became mandatory, with even a growing number of Republicans joining Democrats in support of the vote.
If the signature threshold is met, it is set to freeze for seven legislative days. Then, House Speaker Mike Johnson will have two legislative days to set a vote, which would likely happen in early December after the House returns from a Thanksgiving recess.
Fallout with Supporters
During his campaign, Trump made the Epstein files a critical talking point, with the MAGA movement supporters arguing for the full release of the files as well. Despite this campaign promise, Trump has been avidly avoiding and deflecting from any transparency with the public about information pertaining to Epstein:
The controversy of Trump’s former association with the notorious sex trafficker escalated after the DOJ and the FBI told the public that there was no “client list” for Epstein or evidence of compressive blackmail, even though previously, Attorney General Pam Bondi stated in a Fox News interview that this same client list was “sitting on my desk right now to review.” Trump defended Bondi’s handling of the matter, stating that she had released all “credible information” and that the remaining files were “boring stuff.”
In July 2025, Trump publicly criticized and disavowed supporters demanding for the release of all Epstein files, labeling them as “stupid” and “weaklings” for falling for a “Democratic hoax.” In posts on his social media platform, Truth Social, and in comments to reporters, Trump dismissed the ongoing interest in the Epstein files and its subsequent controversy, labeling it as the “Jeffrey Epstein Hoax.” He claimed that the issue was a “scam” created by Democrats and “foolish Republicans.”
This decision and Trump’s comments caused a rift with some of his loyal supporters, who felt betrayed after years of the administration, including figures like Kash Patel and Dan Bongino, stoking conspiracy theories related to the case and promising transparency. Some online supporters even posted videos of themselves burning their MAGA hats.
Various polls shed light on Republican and MAGA voter sentiment regarding the Epstein controversy, with one poll from July illustrating that 47% of Republican voters indicated that even if Donald Trump was implicated in Jeffrey Epstrein’s sex trafficking activities, it apparently would still not affect their vote. Survey data indicated differences based on age, with younger Republicans more likely to consider switching parties if Trump was implicated. A majority of Americans supported the release of all Epstein-related files. Some within the MAGA base expressed disapproval of how Trump has handled this issue, with an Economist/YouGov poll showing that a majority of Republican voters believed that there was a government cover-up. These findings suggest that while a significant portion of MAGA remains loyal to Trump, the controversy did create some dissatisfaction and division.
Epstein controversy distracts from other issues
“We’ll give them everything,” said Trump ahead of the upcoming vote. “All I want is, I want for people to recognize a great job that I’ve done on price, on affordability, because we brought prices way down,” he emphasized. “I just don’t want Epstein to detract from the great success of the Republican party, including the fact that the Democrats are totally blamed for the shutdown.”
A Quick Fact Check: As of November, the U.S. labor market has announced over 1.1 million job cuts this year so far, according to the research firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The most recent official data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from August 2025 showed only a modest gain of 22,000 nonfarm payroll jobs, following a revised net loss of 13,000 in June.
As of November 2025, the US. housing market is in a state of limited activity and ongoing affordability challenges, which are characterized by a slowly easing yet rising mortgage rates, persistent home price increases, and a gradual increase in the number of homes for sale. Mortgages have slightly eased from their 2024 highs and hover around 6.2% to 6.4% for a 30-year fixed rate. Homebuilders are facing ongoing challenges, including high material and labor costs and an increasing number of unsold new homes. In California, almost 59,000 people will also lose their health coverage due to Republican cuts to Medicaid and nearly 31,000 will see the cost of health coverage rise with the expiration of their healthcare tax credits.
Additionally, Trump's statement claiming Democrats shut down the government is inaccurate: The Republicans control the House, the Senate, the White House, and have a conservative majority on the Supreme Court. An NBC News poll found that more Americans blame Republicans (52%) for the most recent shutdown as opposed to Democrats (42%), which include Independents (48%).
Polls show vast majority of Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of Epstein files
Polling data consistently indicates that Donald Trump has been the least popular president in modern American history based on his overall approval rating and low points during his terms. His approval stands in the range of 39% to 42%, while his disapproval rating has been typically between 55% and 57%, according to polls and aggregators from the likes of The Economist, The New York Times, and even Gallup.
An NPR/PBS News/Marist poll earlier this fall, before the latest email releases, found only 20 percent of adults approved of Trump’s handling of the Epstein files. Among Democrats, only 6 percent said they approved of how he has handled the files.
The poll found that 77 percent of adults, including 67 percent of Republicans, said the administration should release all of the files with victims’ names removed. That poll surveyed 1,477 adults from September 22-26.
A YouGov/Yahoo News poll back in July yielded similar results. Only 8 percent of respondents approved of Trump’s handling of the Epstein investigation in that poll. Among Republicans, 44 percent said they approved of his handling of it, Newsweek reports.
Public opinion on the connection between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein is likely a component shows widespread public dissatisfaction with government transparency on the issue and significant suspicion across the political spectrum.