In reversal, Trump supports House vote to release Epstein files

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he backed lawmakers' efforts to release more files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, despite his previous opposition to the measure.

"House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The 79-year-old Republican has accused Democrats of pushing an "Epstein hoax" after emails emerged in which the disgraced financier suggested Trump "knew about the girls".

Some critics have accused Trump of trying to conceal details about his own alleged wrongdoing — something the president denies — by looking to block the vote, which has divided his typically loyal Republican party.

The issue has driven Trump away from some of his closest allies within his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose 2026 re-election bid Trump withdrew an endorsement for over the weekend.

"Some 'members' of the Republican Party are being 'used', and we can't let that happen," Trump said in his post, in reference to some Republican lawmakers breaking from his previous stance.

Trump has demanded Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI investigate links between Epstein and ex-president Bill Clinton, a Democrat, along with former Harvard president Larry Summers, who served as Clinton's treasury secretary.

Before he died in prison in 2019, Epstein had been required to register as a sex offender in Florida after pleading guilty in 2008 to two counts of solicitation of prostitution, including from a minor.