The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Donald Trump was told by the Justice Department in May that his name appears "multiple times" in the much-discussed files associated with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and deputy attorney general Todd Blanche made Trump aware of his name, along with several high-profile figures, appearing in the Epstein files during a White House meeting in which a number of topics were discussed, as reported by the newspaper.
Trump was directly asked by Katherine Faulders of ABC News last week if Bondi told him about his name appearing in the files, to which he responded, "No, no, she's – she's given us just a very quick briefing."
Trump also attempted to call into question the validity of the Epstein files, claiming they were "made up" by former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, as well as former FBI director James Comey.
Without any context as to why Trump's name appears in the documents, it cannot be assumed that he is guilty of any wrongdoing.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has seemed more determined to divert attention away from the Epstein files, instead of putting an end to skepticism from the public, which includes his own supporters.
Trump accused Obama of treason, stemming from a bipartisan assessment regarding Russia's involvement in the 2016 presidential election. In response to the allegations, Obama spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush released a statement, pointing out that the findings were affirmed by the Senate Intelligence Committee, which was led by then-chairman and Trump-appointed U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Trump publicly demanded that the Washington Commanders and Cleveland Guardians revert back to their respective former names, which were changed due to criticism over the controversial name and depiction.
The DOJ released files pertaining to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr earlier this week. Dr. King's daughter, Bernice King, responded to the move by urging the administration to do the same with the Epstein files.
Trump, Bondi, and Blanche were not the only ones who allegedly knew about his name appearing in the Epstein files. The Wall Street Journal reported FBI director Kash Patel was not only aware of the alleged findings, but privately told other government officials.
Another person who has allegedly known about Trump appearing in the Epstein files was Elon Musk, who wrote, "@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public," in a post on X in early June.
DOJ spokesperson Gates McGavick has called the WSJ report "a collection of falsehoods" in a post on X.