Key points: Newly released emails from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate include a February 2017 message in which Epstein described Donald Trump as having “not one decent cell.” The trove — roughly 20,000 pages produced to the House Oversight Committee — also contains a 2011 note to Ghislaine Maxwell calling Trump a “dog that hasn’t barked” and a separate line saying Trump “knew about the girls.” Trump dismissed the disclosures as a political “hoax” on Truth Social, and Epstein’s 2019 death in custody continues to prompt questions.
Epstein’s Chilling Private Warning About Trump — Newly Released Emails Say He Had ‘Not One Decent Cell’
Key points: Newly released emails from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate include a February 2017 message in which Epstein described Donald Trump as having “not one decent cell.” The trove — roughly 20,000 pages produced to the House Oversight Committee — also contains a 2011 note to Ghislaine Maxwell calling Trump a “dog that hasn’t barked” and a separate line saying Trump “knew about the girls.” Trump dismissed the disclosures as a political “hoax” on Truth Social, and Epstein’s 2019 death in custody continues to prompt questions.
03:02 AM, 11/14/2025Politics
Epstein’s Private Messages Paint a Stark Picture
Newly released documents include private emails in which Jeffrey Epstein — the convicted sex offender and financier — described Donald Trump as having “not one decent cell” shortly after Trump’s 2016 election victory. The messages are part of roughly 20,000 pages the House Oversight Committee obtained from Epstein’s estate under subpoena and released this week.
Key exchanges and quotes
In a February 2017 exchange with Larry Summers, the former Treasury secretary and ex-president of Harvard, Epstein wrote:
“i have met some very bad people, none as bad as trump. not one decent cell in his body.. so yes—dangerous.”
Another message, sent in 2011 to Ghislaine Maxwell, described Trump as a “dog that hasn’t barked,” apparently referencing that Trump had spent hours at Epstein’s home with a person whose name in the release is redacted as "[VICTIM]." In a separate note, Epstein also asserted that Trump “knew about the girls.”
Context and response
The documents were produced to Congress via subpoena of Epstein’s estate and amount to a large trove of contemporaneous communications. Epstein died by apparent suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial; his death has continued to prompt public scrutiny and speculation.
Trump has sought to minimize attention to the emails. On his platform Truth Social he called the disclosures a “hoax” intended to distract from the federal government shutdown, writing that Democrats were using the material for political purposes.
What this means
The released emails add to the public record of Epstein’s relationships and impressions of powerful figures. They do not, by themselves, establish legal conclusions about the allegations referenced in the messages, but they have fueled renewed media and congressional interest in Epstein’s network and the information contained in the estate’s communications.
Note: All quoted material above reflects language contained in the released documents, which include redactions and context that may affect interpretation.