The Epstein files reveal close ties to Trump’s influential inner circle

The latest batch of files on the late sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein reveals new details about the extent to which key members of President Donald Trump’s inner circle interacted with Epstein for years after he was initially arrested and convicted on government prostitution charges.

Trump himself maintains that he cut ties with Epstein long ago, and has not been accused of any specific wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. But Trump’s name appears hundreds of times in the latest edition. Many of these references came in news articles that Epstein shared with others. Some have been linked to new, unverified allegations, including involvement in or awareness of sexual assault.

The Justice Department’s latest release contained more than 3 million pages of documents and tens of thousands of emails and videos, and comes more than a month after the agency missed a deadline to release all of its Epstein files, as set by Congress and signed into law by Trump.

The Department of Justice is required by law to disclose all documents, including unsubstantiated or unfounded allegations. Some files were redacted, although the administration did not provide a full explanation of what was left out.

Read more: A list of powerful men mentioned in the Epstein files, from Elon Musk to former Prince Andrew

“We did not protect President Trump. We did not protect – or did not protect – anyone. There is a hunger or hunger for information that I don’t think will be satisfied by reviewing these documents. And there’s nothing I can do about it,” US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, one of Trump’s former personal lawyers, said during a press conference.

Trump’s associates in the latest tranche of Epstein include former adviser Steve Bannon, friend and former DOGE boss Elon Musk and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who exchanged friendly emails with Epstein for years after his initial arrest and conviction.

So far, no direct evidence has emerged from the files that Trump, Musk, or Lutnick engaged in sex trafficking or sexual assault, nor does the inclusion of the documents directly prove any type of illegal activity.

He watchesWhat the latest files released about Epstein’s relationships with prominent figures show

Some of the files include details of friendly text exchanges between Bannon and Epstein, including one in 2019 in which Epstein asked if Bannon had received an Apple Watch he sent him for Christmas. A few days later, he invited Bannon to “join him” in New York.

“In Texas, build a wall,” Bannon answers.

A text message exchange released by the Department of Justice appears to show a series of messages between former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The files also reveal a closer friendship between Epstein and Musk than Musk has publicly indicated.

File photo: Elon Musk attends the 2025 US-Saudi Investment Forum in Washington, DC. REUTERS/Evelyn Hochstein/File Photo

On Christmas Day 2012, Musk emailed Epstein asking: “Do you have any parties planned?” Musk wrote that he “really wanted to hit the party scene.” Musk appeared to respond to an invitation to visit Epstein on his private island, replying, “The quiet island experience is the opposite of what I’m looking for.”

Among the filings released by the Justice Department on January 30 were several emails between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein.

Also that year, Howard Lutnick, now Secretary of Commerce, emailed Epstein to tell him that he and his family would be traveling to the Caribbean and asked if they could meet for dinner, requesting Epstein’s exact location to give to his boat captain. Lutnick’s wife, Allison, seemed to be following along as the date approached, telling Epstein’s assistant Leslie Groff that the name of their yacht was Distinction and asking them where the boat should go.

The emails appear to contradict claims by both men that they severed ties with Epstein long before he actually did so, and that they were on friendlier terms than they publicly indicated.

In September 2025, Musk wrote on Channel X: “Epstein tried to convince me to go to his island and I said no.”

Following the latest release, Musk spoke out on his social media platform, X, defending his inclusion in the filings. He claimed that Epstein “hounded” him to visit the island, but says he “always refused.”

In a series of posts on X, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took issue with the description of his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Lutnick said during a podcast interview last year that he cut ties with Epstein in the mid-2000s, saying he found him “disgusting” after visiting his New York City home and observing the massage table in the middle of the main room.

“I’ve never been in the room with him socially or for work or even for charity,” Lutnick said at the time. “If that guy was there, I wouldn’t go, because he’s disgusting.”

When contacted by The New York Times this week, Lutnick said, “I didn’t spend any time with him.”

Other notable names in Trump’s orbit include director Brett Ratner, who led the newly released documentary on First Lady Melania Trump, and Kevin Warsh, Trump’s new pick to lead the Federal Reserve.

Ratner was mentioned in numerous emails, including one in 2018 in which his aides, acquaintances or acquaintances appeared to be trying to connect them to Epstein.

Warsh and his wife, Jane Lowder, appear on a list shared with Epstein titled “St. Barth’s Christmas 2010,” among other guests who were planning to attend a party on the island.

In this screenshot of a Justice Department email, Federal Reserve Chairman nominee Kevin Warsh is listed as an attendee at a 2010 party that Jeffrey Epstein was planning in St. Barts.