US President Donald Trump has faced significant criticism after remarks about the ‘fascination’ with the Epstein files emerged, following the revelation that his name reportedly appears over a million times in these files.
Since the release of the files, Trump has commented on them, his connections with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, and how the case has been managed by the Department of Justice, particularly by General Attorney Pam Bondi.
Trump had previously suggested that Bondi should disclose files she considered pertinent and assured that his name would not be found in them. However, a Democrat who reviewed the unredacted documents confirmed that Trump’s name appears numerous times.
Congressman Jamie Raskin, the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, informed Axios that there is a significant amount of redacted content, and Trump’s name comes up more than a million times. Raskin noted, “So it’s all over the place.”
He continued by stating that he looked for keywords such as ‘Trump’, ‘Donald’, or ‘Don’ and admitted, “I obviously didn’t have the time to review each one, and I obviously cannot guarantee that every mention of a Donald is Donald Trump as opposed to some other Donald.”
This information surfaced following a renewed circulation of a clip where Trump discussed the files with reporters in July last year, which recently gained traction on social media.
In the clip, Trump is seen asserting that he is not mentioned in the files and describes public interest in them as ‘boring.’
At Joint Base Andrews, Trump questioned the interest of his supporters in the files, telling a journalist that Epstein has been ‘dead for a long time’ and was ‘never a big factor in terms of life.’
The President remarked: “I don’t understand what the interest or the fascination is. I really don’t.”
He further commented: “I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody. It’s pretty boring stuff and I don’t understand why it keeps going.”
Trump also suggested: “I think really only pretty bad people, including fake news, want to keep something like that going.”
The resurfaced clip has sparked strong reactions from viewers online.
One commenter wrote: “Boring stuff? To some people it’s way more than stuff! People need to be locked up for their crimes!”
Another remarked: “He’s not reading the room. The longer this continues, the more suspicious people will become and wonder what it is in those files that is so awful.”
However, some could understand his perspective, with one user noting: “I’m sure he wants to focus on making the country better and that’s kind of hard when every question is about the files… think about it… I don’t blame him.”
While Trump’s name is mentioned in the files, it is not yet confirmed whether the names Trump, Donald, or Don specifically refer to the President without further examination and confirmation.
Moreover, being named in the files does not automatically imply any wrongdoing.
Nevertheless, one document from Mar-a-Lago was among the first encountered. It included a statement from Epstein’s legal team quoting Trump as saying Epstein ‘was not a member’ of his Mar-a-Lago club, but rather a ‘guest’ who had not been asked to leave the exclusive venue.