The White House has responded to Elon Musk’s shocking claims about President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein’s purported relationship.
In an X post Thursday, Musk brazenly accused the Trump administration of withholding files related to Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation because the president himself was mentioned in them.
“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 alleged. “Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.”
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to Musk’s accusations hours later, telling CNN’s Samantha Waldenberg in a statement Thursday night: “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,” she continued.
The White House did not respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment on Musk’s accusations.
Epstein was accused of sex trafficking minors in 2019. He pleaded not guilty. A month after his arrest, he died by suicide in a prison cell, according to authorities. The disgraced financier and the president had a documented friendship in the 1990s and early aughts, but ultimately had a falling out in 2004 over a piece of real estate, per The Washington Post.
When probed on Epstein’s arrest in 2019, Trump responded to a reporter: “Well I knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him. I mean, people in Palm Beach knew him. He was a fixture in Palm Beach. 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. I was not—yeah, a long time ago, I’d say maybe 15 years. I was not a fan of his. That I can tell you. I was not a fan of his.”
The president has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein nor was he ever implicated in Epstein’s alleged abuse of minors.
Musk and Trump have had their own falling out in recent days, largely due to an innate disagreement over a budget proposal the president is advocating for. The bill, which Trump has described as “big” and “beautiful,” lists out a number of the president’s favored domestic policies on tax, government spending, and immigration.
Musk has criticized the bill, arguing that it would drive up the federal budget deficit and undo the Department of Government Efficiency’s cost-cutting efforts.
“Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!” Trump wrote on Truth Social Thursday.
“I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago,” he added in another post.
