Donald Trump is desperately trying to put the Jeffrey Epstein scandal behind him—but every move he makes seems to keep him running in place.
This time, the focus is on Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate, who was convicted in 2021 for sex trafficking. Her recent interactions with the Trump administration have stirred up fresh controversy, dragging the president back into a narrative he’s been trying to outrun.
In recent weeks, Maxwell sat down for two days of interviews with Deputy Attorney Todd Blanche—Trump’s former personal lawyer and now a senior figure in the Justice Department. According to ABC News, Maxwell didn’t say anything that would harm Trump directly. But even the fact that the meeting happened has raised questions about why a top DOJ official was interviewing someone so closely tied to Epstein—and why she was suddenly transferred from a low-security prison in Florida to a minimum-security facility in Texas soon after.
Trump, for his part, claims he knew nothing about the move. “I didn’t know about it at all. No, I read about it just like you did. It’s not a very uncommon thing,” he said when asked about the transfer.
It’s not the first time Trump has had to answer for his administration’s handling of Maxwell. Back in 2020, he stirred backlash when he said, “I wish her well.” More recently, when asked if he’d consider pardoning her, Trump said only that he had the power to do it but hadn’t thought about the case.
Still, his own DOJ is now reportedly weighing whether to release portions of Maxwell’s interviews with Blanche. Doing so could help Trump placate supporters who have long demanded more transparency around Epstein’s network—many of whom believe, largely due to messaging from Trump and his allies, that a so-called “client list” would expose major political figures, especially Democrats. The FBI and DOJ now say no such list exists, and that Epstein’s 2019 death in a Manhattan jail cell during Trump’s first term was a suicide.
But speculation and pressure remain.
Before Congress went on its August recess, House Republican leaders sent lawmakers home early to contain internal demands to release more Epstein-related files. With Washington mostly quiet for now, Trump has gotten a temporary breather. Yet any move involving Maxwell threatens to send him spinning again.
Behind the scenes, White House officials are reportedly divided over how to proceed. One insider told The Hill, “There’s no question they’re trying to thread the needle.” Releasing testimony could help Trump publicly distance himself from Epstein—but it also risks reopening the floodgates of conspiracy, speculation, and bipartisan criticism.
CNN and Fox News recently reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Blanche were set to meet with Vice President Vance at his residence to discuss the Epstein matter. A spokesperson for Vance denied this, stating there was “never a supposed meeting scheduled at the Vice President’s residence to discuss Epstein strategy.”
Maxwell isn’t fading away quietly either. Her lawyers are asking the Supreme Court to intervene, seeking “relief” from her sentence. Her name and proximity to Epstein keep her—and by extension Trump—relevant in a scandal he’d rather forget.
Despite mounting photographic evidence, Trump has long claimed he barely knew Epstein and ended their association years ago. While he hasn’t been accused of criminal wrongdoing, Trump’s name has surfaced in multiple court documents, and his past comments about Epstein and Maxwell continue to raise eyebrows.
Even Trump’s praise of Blanche—his former lawyer turned DOJ official—keeps the chatter alive. Asked about Blanche’s meetings with Maxwell, Trump said, “I didn’t discuss it with him, but anything he talked about with her, or the fact that he did that, not unusual, No. 1, and most importantly is something that would be totally above board.”
For now, the issue hasn’t gone away—and with every spin of the news cycle, Trump keeps getting pulled back into the Epstein-Maxwell mess.
As one White House ally summed it up: “The president wants to move on. But they may come out with something slightly more transparent, a little more meat on the bone.”
Until then, he’s still on the wheel—spinning, dodging, but going nowhere fast.
