By Rabia Iclal Turan
WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the nation should move on following the latest release of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, claiming that Epstein and others conspired against him.
“I think it’s really time for the country to get onto something else now that nothing came out about me, other than it was a conspiracy against me, literally by Epstein and other people,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about the release of the latest tranche of files.
“A reporter named (Michael) Wolf and Epstein conspired. This just came out yesterday…conspired against me in order to fight like hell to make sure I lose the election. That's the only thing that was mentioned about me,” he added.
“It’s really a Democrat problem. It’s not a Republican problem,” he said.
When pressed on other names mentioned in the Epstein files, including tech billionaire Elon Musk and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Trump responded: “I'm sure they're fine. Otherwise, it would have been major headlines.”
The latest batch of Epstein-related documents released by the Justice Department on Friday mention several high-profile figures, including Musk and Lutnick.
The files show that Musk emailed Epstein over the holidays in 2012 asking: “Do you have any parties planned?” Musk has repeatedly defended himself, writing on his social media company X’s platform in September 2025 that Epstein “tried to get me to go to his island and I REFUSED,” adding after the latest release that he “always declined” Epstein’s invitations.
Similarly, the files show Lutnick and his family coordinating travel to the Caribbean and requesting to meet Epstein for dinner in 2012. Lutnick told the New York Times this week that “I spent zero time with him.”
Epstein was found dead in his New York City jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. He pleaded guilty in a court in the state of Florida and was convicted of procuring a minor for prostitution in 2008, but critics call the relatively minor conviction a “sweetheart deal.”
His victims have alleged that he operated a sprawling sex trafficking network that was used by members of the wealthy and political elite.