Senior officials in Donald Trump's administration clashed in White House Situation Room meetings over how to handle the release of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a report from The New York Times. The meetings, held in July 2025, revealed panic at the highest levels as pressure mounted to publish the documents.
Vice President JD Vance expressed deep concern, stating, "This is a huge problem." He reportedly believed in conspiracy theories about Epstein and predators within the ruling class and pushed for full release of the files, including unsubstantiated material about Trump, to appease the Make America Great Again coalition.
Vance proposed a publicity stunt involving right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson interviewing Epstein's co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell in prison. He suggested that if Maxwell stated Trump was not involved in wrongdoing, it could help the president. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche floated the idea of Justice Department lawyers questioning Maxwell and releasing the transcript, but noted her lawyer might expect something in return.
White House counsel David Warrington outlined options including pardoning Maxwell or reducing her sentence. Communications director Steven Cheung strongly opposed this, saying, "Pardoning Maxwell, a trafficker of young girls, would create a huge PR problem." Deputy chief of staff James Blair warned that any deal with Maxwell would undermine the credibility of her statements and fuel conspiracy theories.
In late July, Blanche interviewed Maxwell, who said she had not witnessed troubling behaviour by Trump. She was subsequently moved to a minimum-security prison camp in Texas, sparking public outrage. Blanche claimed the move was due to death threats.
During the meetings, The Wall Street Journal published an article about Trump and Epstein that Trump had tried to suppress. The article revealed that Trump contributed a hand-drawn nude woman with a dialogue about a "wonderful secret" to Epstein's birthday book in 2003, signed with what appeared to be Trump's signature in place of pubic hair. Trump made several phone calls to News Corp executives to kill the story, claiming he did not write the note.
