WASHINGTON D.C. – President Donald Trump was informed by the Department of Justice (DOJ), led by Attorney General Pam Bondi, in May that his name appears in the Jeffrey Epstein files, according to a report published by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. The report, which cites officials within the Trump administration, comes amidst renewed public scrutiny over the Epstein case, particularly after the recent revelation of a controversial letter allegedly from Trump to Epstein.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “senior officials” in the Trump administration stated that Attorney General Pam Bondi personally informed President Trump during a White House meeting in May that his name appeared “multiple times” within the documents related to the Epstein investigation that the DOJ had reviewed.
The officials cited in the report clarified that this was a “routine briefing” at the White House, and the issue of Trump’s name in the Epstein files was not the primary agenda of the meeting. They also noted that, apart from Trump, several other high-profile names in U.S. politics reportedly appeared in the files.
“They told the president at the meeting that the files contained what officials felt was unverified hearsay about many people, including Trump, who had socialized with Epstein in the past,” the report states. An official familiar with the documents further added at the meeting that “they contain hundreds of other names.”
As per the WSJ report, Attorney General Bondi and other DOJ officials also revealed at the May meeting that no further revelations related to the Epstein files would take place. The reason cited for this decision was that “the material contained child pornography and victims’ personal information,” making further public disclosure problematic.
Trump vs. WSJ on Epstein: The Story So Far
The Jeffrey Epstein controversy re-entered national headlines following the DOJ’s memo on July 6, which stated that no further disclosures on the issue would occur. This decision sparked significant backlash, particularly among a segment of Donald Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) supporters, who have been vocal in demanding the release of more information related to Epstein.
Amid this backlash, the Wall Street Journal published a controversial report on July 17 that included a letter purportedly sent by Trump to Epstein on the latter’s 50th birthday in 2003. The letter, described as “bawdy” by the WSJ, contained a typewritten birthday wish for Epstein, allegedly from the then-future POTUS. The text was placed inside the figure of a naked woman, with Trump’s signature depicted as the figure’s pubic hair.
Trump quickly dismissed the Wall Street Journal’s report as “fake news” and has since taken legal action. On July 18, he filed a federal defamation lawsuit in Miami against the Journal, its parent companies Dow Jones and News Corp, its owner Rupert Murdoch, and two WSJ reporters involved in the article. This legal battle signals a deepening dispute between the former president and the prominent media outlet over the handling and reporting of information related to Jeffrey Epstein.