President Donald Trump has avoided questions about Jeffrey Epstein as his administration prepares to release the long-awaited files on the convicted sex trafficker’s crimes and billionaire networks.
With the Department of Justice approaching a midnight deadline to release the files, Trump—who is never shy of TV cameras—refused to be grilled about the matter.
The president’s refusal came after a lengthy White House press conference in which Trump unveiled an initiative to lower drug prices as millions of Americans struggle with cost-of-living pressures.
But after a round of the “Dear Leader-style” praise from attendees, the president announced to the media that he would not be taking questions “to do with anything else.”
“I prefer not talking and asking questions, only for the reason that this is such a big announcement… that I really don’t want to soil it up by asking questions – even questions that are very fair questions that I’d love to answer,” he said.
“So I think we have to just stop right here.”
Trump’s comments came as the political firestorm is set to reignite over the Epstein files, six years after the disgraced financier died awaiting trial for sex trafficking teenage girls.
But the administration came under fire earlier on Friday when Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche revealed that some information would not be released by tonight’s deadline.
“I expect that we’re going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks, so today several hundred thousand and then over the next couple weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more,” he told Fox and Friends.
Democrats accused the department of violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Trump reluctantly signed into law after some Republicans broke ranks to support full disclosure.
“The law Congress passed and President Trump signed was clear as can be—the Trump administration has 30 days to release ALL the Epstein files, not just some,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.
“Failing to do so is breaking the law. This just shows the Department of Justice, Donald Trump and Pam Bondi are hellbent on hiding the truth.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom, Trump’s daily troller-in-chief, questioned what Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI director Kash Patel might be hiding.
“RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES,” his office posted on X.
WHAT ARE TRUMP, BONDI, AND KASH HIDING!!
RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES https://t.co/eEI1qAYpfc— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) December 19, 2025
The release of the Epstein files is the culmination of years of advocacy by victims and their support of wanting justice, as well as conspiracy theories by the MAGA faithful.
Those calls reached fever pitch when Trump and his team came to office promising to release the files, only to walk back his pledge and described the issue as a “Democratic” hoax.
But despite the president’s claims, his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, confirmed in a jaw-dropping interview this week that Trump is in the Epstein files and travelled on the sex offender’s plane.
But she insisted “he’s not in the file doing anything awful,” telling Vanity Fair: “They were, you know, sort of young, single, whatever—I know it’s a passé word but sort of young, single playboys together.”
Friday’s event was not the only time the president has dodged questions about the issue.
Last month, after bombshell emails showed he knew more about the sex offender than initially he acknowledged, Trump avoided questions about him for three consecutive days.
The post Trump Flees Awkward Questions on Epstein Files Release appeared first on The Daily Beast.
