How has Trump’s position changed on releasing the Epstein files?published at 17:20 GMT
17:20 GMT
Image source, Reuters
When asked whether he would sign a bill supporting the release of the Epstein files yesterday, Donald Trump said he was “all for it”.
This followed a Truth Social post on Sunday from the US President which said: “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide.”
This represents a change of course for Trump who since entering office has resisted the files being released, repeatedly calling them a “hoax” by the Democrats.
Trump said he would release the Epstein files while campaigning to be president last year.
When asked on Fox News in June 2024 whether he would declassify the files, he said: “Yeah I would, I guess I would, I think that less so, because you know you don’t know, you don’t want to effect people’s lives if it’s phony stuff in there, because it’s a lot of phony stuff with that world, but I think I would.”
And in September last year when questioned on a podcast about releasing a supposed client list of people who visited Epstein’s island, Trump said: “I would be inclined to do the Epstein, I would have no problem with it.”