Key points: The president has backed a congressional bill to release Jeffrey Epstein’s files but refuses to publish them himself and has given no clear reason. He lashed out at reporters — once calling a journalist “Quiet, piggy” — and threatened networks when pressed. The DOJ and FBI said an “exhaustive review” found no basis to investigate uncharged third parties, yet the president has urged renewed probes and aides have hinted at political retaliation, leaving the matter stalled and politically charged.
Why Trump Won’t Release the Epstein Files — and What That Reveals
Key points: The president has backed a congressional bill to release Jeffrey Epstein’s files but refuses to publish them himself and has given no clear reason. He lashed out at reporters — once calling a journalist “Quiet, piggy” — and threatened networks when pressed. The DOJ and FBI said an “exhaustive review” found no basis to investigate uncharged third parties, yet the president has urged renewed probes and aides have hinted at political retaliation, leaving the matter stalled and politically charged.
05:00 AM, 11/20/2025Politics
A congressional bill asking for the release of Jeffrey Epstein’s files has won the president’s formal, if reluctant, backing — yet the documents remain sealed. President Trump has offered no clear explanation for withholding the records, and his reactions when pressed have raised more questions than answers.
When asked on Air Force One why he would not simply publish the files, Trump snapped at a reporter, calling her “Quiet, piggy.” Later, at the White House, he attacked an ABC reporter’s “attitude,” called her question “insubordinate,” labeled her “a terrible person and a terrible reporter,” threatened to revoke the network’s broadcast license, and again declined to explain why the files are not public.
Official findings and renewed claims
The Justice Department and the FBI said earlier this summer that after an “exhaustive review” of the material they “did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.” Yet the president — and others around him — have continued to suggest there may be more to uncover.
After a post on Truth Social urging an inquiry into Epstein’s ties to several high-profile figures, Trump said he would ask Attorney General Pam Bondi, the DOJ, and the FBI to investigate. Bondi quickly accepted, saying new information had prompted her decision — a move that coincided with the president’s public call to scrutinize several political opponents.
Politics, threats, and double talk
With no substantive explanation for the seal, some White House aides have resorted to threats. A senior official warned critics that “the Democrats are going to come to regret this,” even naming Representative Stacey Plaskett — a nonvoting delegate who had exchanged texts with Epstein during a 2019 hearing — as a possible target for retaliation. Such signals of retribution appear designed to deter political opponents rather than clarify the legal or factual basis for keeping the files closed.
At times the administration’s posture has been contradictory: Epstein is alternately dismissed as “pretty boring stuff” and described as a potential political atom bomb that could embarrass prominent Democrats. That inconsistency — coupled with confrontational exchanges with reporters and a lack of transparent explanation — has left the issue suspended: the documents are technically alive as a subject of interest but dead to public scrutiny while they remain sealed.
What this means
The dispute over the Epstein files has become a political theater in which disclosure is waved as both a promise and a threat. Until the administration provides a clear legal or factual justification for keeping the records closed, calls for transparency will likely intensify. The central question remains: if the president supports a congressional demand to release the files, why not simply release them?