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Trump has privately pondered if Epstein accusers are just ‘Democrats’ trying to make him look bad, report claims

The White House denies that Trump accused Epstein survivors who made media appearances as ‘clearly of a “Democrat” political affiliation’

James Liddell
Friday 15 August 2025 10:34 BST
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Trump says he ‘didn’t know’ about Ghislaine Maxwell transfer from prison to Texas Club Fed

President Donald Trump has privately labeled some of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking victims as “clearly” Democrats, a new report claims.

Survivors of Epstein’s abuse have for weeks publicly criticized the Trump administration’s handling of the files linked to the disgraced financier.

Behind closed doors, the president has allegedly grown frustrated as his efforts to move past the uproar have been undermined.

Trump has allegedly questioned whether some survivors and their families are “just trying to make him look bad,” two people familiar with the conversations told Rolling Stone.

The sources said the president has also criticized those who have spoken out for “implying that he did something wrong during his time as one of Epstein’s friends and party companions,” the magazine reported.

Donlad Trump continues to battle against the fallout of his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case
Donlad Trump continues to battle against the fallout of his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case (AP)

The president allegedly dismissed some of those women making media appearances as “clearly of a ‘Democrat’ political affiliation,” the sources said. He also questioned whether some of them are coordinating with prominent liberal attorneys or groups, they added.

A White House official denied the report and dismissed its claims as false.

“None of this is true,” they said. “Just another desperate attempt by the failing Rolling Stone.”

The president has found himself at the center of a MAGA firestorm after refusing to release the so-called Epstein files, which the Republican pledged to release on the 2024 campaign trail.

After weeks of unrelenting uproar over the Justice Department’s announcement in early July that there was no evidence Epstein had a “client list,” Attorney General Pam Bondi reportedly briefed Trump in May that his name was mentioned in the files, according to The Wall Street Journal. The president is now suing the newspaper for $10 billion over the reporting.

Trump has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with the sex offender’s case. The White House says the president threw Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago for being a “creep.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi has faced flak for the DOJ’s announcement last month that there was no evidence of a ‘client list’
Attorney General Pam Bondi has faced flak for the DOJ’s announcement last month that there was no evidence of a ‘client list’ (Reuters)

It was compounded by reports earlier this month that Epstein’s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence convicted on child sex trafficking charges, had been transferred to a minimum security Texas prison facility after the DOJ spoke with her last month in Florida.

Sisters Annie and Maria Farmer, who accused Epstein of assaulting them and testified against Maxwell in her trial, told CNN the Trump administration’s “chaotic” approach to the case and sidelining of victims “has a real cost for survivors.”

Danielle Bensky, who accused Epstein of abusing her in 2004, told NBC News that it “feels like we’re being erased.”

California Representative Ro Khanna announced plans to bring Epstein survivors to Washington, D.C
California Representative Ro Khanna announced plans to bring Epstein survivors to Washington, D.C (Getty Images for Court Accountab)

Lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle have also continued to push for the whole, unredacted release of the Epstein files.

Republican rebel Thomas Massie and Democratic Representative Ro Khanna announced Monday plans to bring Epstein survivors to Washington, D.C., in a bipartisan push to get Congress to release the controversial “files” in the case.

Last month, Trump baselessly suggested that any mentions of his name in criminal case files related to the late pedophile would be there as a result of Democratic efforts to ensnare him in a “hoax.”

The Independent has contacted the White House for more information.

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