Elon Musk, the billionaire tech mogul and owner of social media platform X, has deleted a controversial post in which he alleged that U.S. President Donald Trump was named in files linked to deceased financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The allegation, posted on Thursday, came shortly after Musk stepped down from a high-profile advisory role within the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE.
In the now-deleted message, Musk claimed that Trump was featured in confidential documents concerning Epstein’s criminal network.
“Time to drop the really big bomb: (Trump) is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public,” Musk wrote.
The post immediately stirred political turmoil, fueling online speculation and media scrutiny. Musk followed up with another message, encouraging followers to “mark this post for the future,” asserting that “the truth will come out.” However, by Saturday morning, both posts had been quietly deleted from his profile.
Musk provided no evidence to substantiate his claims and did not clarify which specific files he was referencing.
The U.S. government has not confirmed the existence of any such documents implicating President Trump, although thousands of pages of testimony and evidence related to Epstein and his associates were unsealed by a New York judge in early 2024.
President Trump, who previously socialized with Epstein in the early 2000s, has denied ever visiting Little Saint James, Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands where prosecutors alleged much of the abuse occurred. He has not been formally accused of any wrongdoing.
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The timing of Musk’s posts raised eyebrows, especially given that Trump had just praised Musk’s public service days earlier. The relationship between the two prominent figures appears to have rapidly deteriorated, particularly after Musk sharply criticized a proposed federal spending bill. He referred to the legislation—which could shape Trump’s potential second term—as an “abomination.”
The now-deleted tweet also created division within Trump’s support base. While the MAGA movement has long propagated theories suggesting Epstein’s crimes were protected by elites in government and Hollywood, many of its adherents have shielded Trump from those allegations.
“No credible source has confirmed Trump’s involvement in any unreleased Epstein files,” noted AFP in a fact-check following the social media uproar.
The episode is the latest in a series of online controversies involving Musk, whose increasingly political and erratic posts have drawn widespread scrutiny.
Last year, he also deleted a tweet that appeared to condone violence against President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, sparking bipartisan condemnation.
As of Sunday, neither Musk nor the Trump administration has issued a formal statement addressing the deleted posts.
With Musk’s influence straddling the worlds of politics, technology, and media, the fallout from his claims—however short-lived—continues to ripple through the American political landscape, prompting fresh debates about the responsibilities of powerful individuals on social platforms.
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