Newly released documents show repeated contacts between Jeffrey Epstein and members of the Saudi royal family, including a 2016 visit to Riyadh after which he received a Bedouin-style tent "carpets and all." The records—emails and texts submitted to the House Oversight Committee—suggest Epstein's ties to Saudi Arabia were among his most significant foreign relationships. There is no public evidence linking Saudi officials to Epstein's sex-trafficking allegations, but investigators say further disclosures could illuminate the flow of large sums and the scope of his international network.
Epstein and Saudi Arabia: The Mysterious Tent, Royal Meetings and Global Financial Links
Newly released documents show repeated contacts between Jeffrey Epstein and members of the Saudi royal family, including a 2016 visit to Riyadh after which he received a Bedouin-style tent "carpets and all." The records—emails and texts submitted to the House Oversight Committee—suggest Epstein's ties to Saudi Arabia were among his most significant foreign relationships. There is no public evidence linking Saudi officials to Epstein's sex-trafficking allegations, but investigators say further disclosures could illuminate the flow of large sums and the scope of his international network.
07:37 AM, 11/19/2025Politics
In late 2016 Jeffrey Epstein flew his private Gulfstream G550 from Paris to Riyadh and returned with a Bedouin-style tent — "carpets and all," as he later described it — reportedly connected to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Bedouin tents are a longstanding symbol of hospitality in the region; why Epstein received such a gift remains unexplained.
Hundreds of emails, text messages and other documents recently turned over by Epstein's estate to the House Oversight Committee show repeated contacts between Epstein and members of the Saudi royal family. The materials include an exchange between Epstein and Hyatt executive chairman Tom Pritzker that mentions the tent, and a planning note from an assistant asking, "Did you need me to book the Four Seasons for you in Riyadh? Or is the king taking care of it!?"
Requests for comment to Saudi officials were not answered by the time of publication. Importantly, there is no public evidence tying Saudi government officials to Epstein's sex-trafficking allegations.
The estate provided the documents in response to a subpoena seeking records relating to Epstein's finances and potential victims. What has been released so far likely represents only a portion of Epstein's extensive communications, and additional disclosures could change the picture of his global activities.
While public attention has focused primarily on Epstein's crimes, investigators and members of Congress warn that further records could reveal more about his international financial dealings and networks. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, has said questions remain about the movement of large sums of money during the years Epstein operated his cross-border trafficking operation.
"My own investigation has found that Epstein was moving hundreds of millions of dollars around the world during the years he operated his cross-border sex trafficking operation, but it's still not clear who among his foreign network knew about his trafficking, enabled it, and participated in it." — Sen. Ron Wyden
Documents portray Epstein as an elite money manager who advised governments such as Mongolia and the Maldives and who traveled to, or sought deals in, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, the Ivory Coast, China, Russia, Qatar and Belarus. Among these foreign relationships, his ties to Saudi Arabia appear to be among the most extensive and potentially lucrative.
After Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman consolidated power in 2017 following a high-level purge, a reporter named Thomas Landon Jr. emailed Epstein to ask, "Did your Saudi friends survive the purge?" Epstein replied, "All. With gods help ;)."
In April 2018 a text exchange in the disclosed files shows Epstein writing, "MBS [Mohammed bin Salman] has the Louvre and 400 guards. To himself," and indicating he was on his way there. The exchange was with a redacted correspondent who, from context, appears to be former presidential adviser Steve Bannon. That same evening the French president posted a photo with the crown prince at the Louvre; it is not publicly confirmed whether Epstein attended.
Another text from Epstein mentioned the prospect of meetings in Washington, naming former senator and secretary of state John Kerry; a Kerry spokesperson said he was not in Washington at the time, had no scheduled meeting, and was not in contact with the parties referenced.
Epstein had also planned a return trip to Saudi Arabia for the summer of 2019; that visit did not occur after his arrest and detention on federal sex-crime charges. Additional items uncovered after his arrest and death include a photograph of Epstein posing with Mohammed bin Salman that was found in his Manhattan home, and an expired Austrian passport from the 1980s bearing a false name and listing Saudi Arabia as a residence.
Investigations continue. Analysts and lawmakers say further document releases could help clarify how Epstein moved money internationally, who in his network may have enabled or benefited from his operations, and the full extent of his relationships with foreign leaders.