TURNBERRY, Scotland — Donald Trump claimed Monday that his name was planted in the Jeffrey Epstein files—and he pointed the finger at two familiar political enemies: former Attorney General Merrick Garland and former FBI Director James Comey.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to his Turnberry golf course in Scotland, Trump dismissed the Epstein case as a political setup and said the documents had been manipulated by top officials in the Biden administration and beyond.
“Those files were run by the worst scum on earth,” Trump said. “They were run by Comey, they were run by Garland, they were run by Biden. Those files were run for four years by those people.”
When asked if he had been briefed about his name appearing in the Epstein records, Trump said he wasn’t focused on it and called the entire thing a hoax.
“Well, I haven’t been overly interested in it. It’s a hoax that’s been built up… way beyond proportion,” he said. “If they had something, they would have released [it].”
Trump suggested evidence could have been faked to damage him, pointing to the now-debunked Steele dossier, which accused him of ties to Russia during the 2016 election.
“Now, they can easily put something in the files that’s a phony,” he said. “As an example, Christopher Steele wrote a book—we call the ‘fake news dossier.’ The whole thing was a fake. The whole thing was a fake. They can put things in the file that was a fake. Those files were run by sick, sick people.”
Trump was also pressed about whether he would consider pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted sex trafficker and longtime Epstein associate.
“Well, I’m allowed to give her a pardon, but nobody’s approached me with it, nobody’s asked me about it,” he said. “It would be inappropriate to talk about it.”
He gave a similar answer days earlier, telling reporters: “It’s something I haven’t thought about… I’m allowed to do it, but it’s something I have not thought about.”
Trump addressed reports about his past relationship with Epstein. He confirmed that Epstein had been banned from Mar-a-Lago years ago for what he called inappropriate behavior.
“For years I wouldn’t talk to Jeffrey Epstein,” Trump said. “He did something that was inappropriate. He hired help, and I said don’t ever do that again. He stole people that worked for me. And he did it again, and I threw him out of the place, persona non grata, and that was it. I’m glad I did if you want to know the truth.”
Trump’s name appears at least nine times in the publicly released Epstein-related documents, including flight logs and Epstein’s contact book. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was told about his name being in the files during a 2024 briefing by former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy financier and convicted sex offender, was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges. He died in jail while awaiting trial—under the watch of then–Attorney General Bill Barr. The death was officially ruled a suicide by Trump administration officials, though it continues to fuel widespread suspicion and speculation.
Trump’s comments come as calls grow louder for full transparency about the Epstein case, especially among his supporters, who believe a cover-up has protected powerful individuals. Trump, now blaming Garland and Comey, says he was one of their political targets.
“They ran the files,” Trump said. “I was running against somebody that ran the files.”
Watch the clip below:
