U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday called on congressional Republicans to vote in favour of releasing documents tied to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — a sharp reversal from his earlier reluctance to support such disclosures. The shift came shortly after House Speaker Mike Johnson suggested that making the files public could help dispel allegations linking Trump to Epstein’s crimes.
Posting on Truth Social, Trump insisted the party had “nothing to hide” and accused Democrats of weaponizing the Epstein case to distract from what he called Republican successes, including their handling of the recent government shutdown fight. Trump’s comments came despite newly surfaced emails from a House committee, in which Epstein claimed Trump “knew about the girls,” though the meaning of that phrase remains unclear. Trump has long denied any association with Epstein after the two had a falling-out years before the financier’s convictions.
The president’s reversal has intensified an already growing rift within the MAGA movement. Trump withdrew his support late Friday for Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene — once one of his closest allies — after she criticized Republicans’ approach to the Epstein issue. Greene has been pushing aggressively for the full release of the files, while Trump recently dismissed the controversy as a Democratic smear campaign. At the same time, he has instructed the Department of Justice to investigate prominent Democrats’ connections to Epstein.
The push to unseal more documents has created tensions across the Republican caucus, even though many of Trump’s supporters believe the government is hiding information about Epstein’s network of powerful associates. Meanwhile, Democratic Representative Ro Khanna, who co-sponsored the petition to force a vote on the files’ release, said Sunday he expects more than 40 Republicans to support the motion.
The unfolding feud underscores the political sensitivity of the Epstein case, which continues to cast a shadow over Washington years after the convicted sex offender died by suicide in jail in 2019.
