On September 15, 2025, the controversy surrounding former President Donald Trump’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein reached a fever pitch as new evidence, survivor testimony, and partisan accusations collided in Washington. The latest developments, including the release of a provocative birthday scrapbook and a trove of emails, have reignited public scrutiny over Trump’s relationship with the disgraced financier and the government’s handling of the so-called “Epstein files.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, fielding pointed questions from reporters, doubled down on the administration’s stance that Democrats are orchestrating a “hoax” to tarnish Trump’s reputation. “Why are the Democrats all of a sudden caring about this? It’s because they’re desperately trying to concoct a hoax to smear the president of the United States. We have seen this time and time again,” Leavitt asserted, according to ABC News. She maintained that the Justice Department under Trump has “done more in terms of transparency when it comes to the Epstein case than any prior administration.”
The latest uproar began when House Democrats released a scrapbook gifted to Epstein for his 50th birthday, compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell. The so-called birthday book, as reported by The Guardian, contains a series of letters, some laden with sexual innuendo—including one alleged message from Trump. Typed on a photograph of a naked female torso, the note attributed to Trump reads: “We have certain things in common, Jeffrey.” It continues, “every day be another wonderful secret,” and ends with the enigmatic line, “Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?” Trump’s name appears in the “friends” section of the book, alongside Bill Clinton, Alan Dershowitz, and Jean-Luc Brunel, a former model agency head and suspected accomplice of Epstein who died in prison in 2022.
Trump has vehemently denied the authenticity of the note, launching a $10 billion defamation suit over Wall Street Journal reporting on the matter and calling the document “fake.” Leavitt reinforced this position, insisting, “It’s very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it.” When pressed about whether a handwriting expert could review the signature, she replied, “Sure, we would support that.”
The scrapbook also includes a photograph of Epstein holding an oversized $22,500 check signed “DJ Trump,” with a caption suggesting Epstein sold “something or someone” to Trump, described as “fully depreciated.” The book features crude cartoons, including one of Epstein with young girls and another of three topless women massaging him, further fueling speculation about the depth of Epstein’s abuses and the awareness of his powerful associates.
But the birthday book is just the latest in a cascade of revelations. On September 11, 2025, a cache of 18,000 emails from Epstein’s Yahoo account was made public. Among them, a 2006 exchange between Maxwell and Epstein stands out: Maxwell asked Epstein to review a “power list” of 51 influential figures, to which Epstein simply replied, “Remove trump.” The reason for the list remains unclear, but the timing—just months after Epstein was first charged in Florida for soliciting a prostitute—has raised eyebrows. In a separate 2007 email, Maxwell wrote, “You have to assume they went to donald trump,” referencing unnamed individuals who may have disclosed information about Epstein’s dealings with minors.
Amid the flurry of documents, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson added fuel to the fire earlier this month. In a Capitol interview with CNN’s Manu Raju, Johnson claimed that Trump “was an FBI informant” in the Epstein case. The White House immediately pushed back, with Leavitt stating, “I can affirm that is not true. I think the Speaker was referring to the fact that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago property for reasons the president has already discussed.” Johnson later tried to walk back the statement, but the speculation has persisted.
Epstein and Trump’s social relationship has been well-documented. In a 2002 interview, Trump described Epstein as a “terrific guy.” Epstein, in a 2017 conversation with biographer Michael Wolff, reportedly claimed, “I was Donald’s closest friend for 10 years.” Yet, Trump has recently minimized the extent of their friendship and denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
Survivors of Epstein’s abuse, however, are demanding more than denials. On September 5, 2025, several survivors spoke at the U.S. Capitol, urging Trump to release the full cache of Epstein files amassed by the FBI and Justice Department since 2005. These files are believed to contain victim statements, investigators’ notes, and possibly the identities of other individuals involved in Epstein’s crimes. According to former Idaho attorney general Jim Jones, writing in The Idaho Statesman, “Donald Trump could have cleared the air and supported the victims by releasing the entirety of the files. Instead, he slapped them in the face, claiming that the entire Epstein tragedy was a ‘hoax’ and refusing to meet with them.”
Jones, who championed victim protection laws during his tenure, warned that Trump’s dismissal of the case as a “hoax” amounts to victim-shaming. “Abuse victims can’t help but read his outburst as a cue to silence their voices,” Jones wrote. He called on Trump to honor his campaign pledge to release the files, arguing that transparency would demonstrate support for survivors and accountability for perpetrators, regardless of their wealth or status.
Stacey Williams, a former model who dated Epstein in 1993, echoed these frustrations. According to The Guardian, Williams said, “It’s confusing to me that Donald Trump ran on releasing the files and that it was so incredibly important to his supporters. And here we are, and nobody has seen them yet.” Williams and other survivors insist that making the files public is key to achieving justice and holding all perpetrators accountable.
The wider context, as described by former top model Carré Otis, suggests that Epstein’s reputation as a predator was an open secret among those in the modeling and entertainment industries. “There was a sort of a playbook of who to avoid,” Otis said, recalling a “whisper network” that aimed to protect young women from powerful men like Epstein. For many, the failure to act sooner—and the ongoing secrecy—reflects a culture that prioritized the reputations of the rich over the safety of victims.
As the debate rages, the White House continues to insist that the administration is delivering on transparency, pointing to the release of thousands of pages of documents. Yet, for survivors and advocates, the central demand remains unmet: the full, unredacted release of the Epstein files and a clear message of support for those who suffered at the hands of Epstein and his associates.
The controversy shows no sign of abating, with each new revelation prompting more questions than answers. For now, the survivors’ voices—and the demand for justice—remain at the center of a storm that has yet to pass.
