White House chief of staff Susie Wiles has confirmed that President Donald Trump's name appears in the Epstein files, describing the late financier and Trump as “young, single playboys together” in interviews with Vanity Fair.
Wiles, who managed Trump's 2024 election campaign, said she had read what she called “the Epstein file” and that the president “is in the file”, adding that he was not in it “doing anything awful”. She acknowledged that Trump flew on Epstein's plane, the Lolita Express, and that his name appears on flight logs. She also admitted she had previously misjudged the significance of the Epstein scandal.
Trump and Epstein moved in the same social circles in New York and Palm Beach, and were photographed together in 1992 and 2000. Epstein once described himself as Trump's “closest friend”, although Trump has said they fell out decades ago after Epstein poached spa workers from Mar-a-Lago.
The comments come as Epstein's network faces renewed scrutiny. Last week, House Oversight Democrats released photographs from Epstein's private estate showing Trump and other prominent figures. The Department of Justice is required to release its Epstein files by Friday under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Trump signed into law last month. Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing and called the matter a hoax.
Wiles also used the interviews to criticise Attorney General Pam Bondi, saying she “completely whiffed” on the issue. Bondi had handed conservative influencers binders labelled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” in February, which contained no new information. Wiles called them “binders full of nothingness” and disputed Bondi's claim that a client list was on her desk, noting that a July Department of Justice memo said there was no proof of such a list. After the Vanity Fair article appeared, Wiles described it on social media as “a disingenuously framed hit piece” on her and the Trump administration.
