United States President Donald Trump has referred to former president Bill Clinton as a 'big boy' as he breaks his silence on the new Jeffrey Epstein photos.
Yesterday (22 December), the 79-year-old Republican made his very first address in front of the press since the release of the latest Epstein files on Friday (19 December).
The Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA) was passed nearly unanimously by Congress and signed into law by Trump last month (30 November). It mandated the complete release of the Epstein files by last Friday, but so far, the Department of Justice has released only one batch of documents.
During his address, Trump was questioned over Clinton's appearance in several photos, prompting him to say: "I think it's terrible. I like Bill Clinton... and I hate to see photos come out of him.
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"I've always gotten along with Bill Clinton. I've been nice to him; he's been nice to me. I hate to see photos come out of him, but this is what the Democrats, mostly Democrats and a couple of bad Republicans, are asking for.
"So they are giving photos of me too. Everybody was friendly with this guy [Epstein], either friendly or not friendly.
"He was all over Palm Beach and other places... and Bill Clinton was a friend of his, but everybody was."
He added: "But no, I don’t like the pictures of Bill Clinton being shown. I don’t like the pictures of other people being shown – I think it’s a terrible thing."
Trump, who socialised and partied with convicted sex offender Epstein in the 1990s and 2000s, before their fallout, added: "I think Bill Clinton's a big boy. He can handle it, but you probably have pictures being exposed of other people that innocently met Jeffrey Epstein years ago and they’re highly respected bankers and lawyers and others."
He added that a 'lot of people are very angry that pictures are being released of other people that really had nothing to do with Epstein. But they’re in a picture with him because he was at a party and you ruin a reputation of somebody'.
In one photo, Clinton can be seen swimming in a pool with Epstein and his now-jailed co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as a woman whose face has been blanked out.
Another sees the Democrat standing between Epstein and another man, smiling as he drapes his arms the pair, whilst a third shows a woman whose face has been redacted sitting near Clinton's lap in what looks to be a private jet.
It's important to note, however, that these images do not demonstrate any illegal activity by Clinton, who has long maintained he had cut ties with Epstein long before the financier's 2019 arrest.
In that same year, Epstein died by suicide while awaiting sex-trafficking charges.
The father-of-one also denies all knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
Angel Ureña - Clinton's deputy chief of staff - claimed in a passionate social media statement that the 'dump' of the files 'late on a Friday' was not intended 'to protect' the ex-politician.
Taking to X, she wrote: "The White House hasn't been hiding these files for months only to dump them late on a Friday to protect Bill Clinton.
"This is about shielding themselves from what comes next, or from what they'll try and hide forever. So they can release as many grainy, 20-plus-year-old photos as they want, but this isn't about Bill Clinton."
Ureña went on to insist: "Never has, never will be."
She went on to reference comments made recently by White House chief of staff, Susie Wells, in a controversial Vanity Fair interview, insisting there is 'no evidence' that Clinton travelled to Epstein's two private islands, where he is understood to have abused hordes of underage girls.
"There are two types of people here," Ureña continued. "The first group knew nothing and cut Epstein off before his crimes came to light.
"The second group continued relationships with him after. We're in the first. No amount of stalling by people in the second group will change that."
She concluded: "Everyone, especially MAGA, expects answers, not scapegoats."
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News, News, Jeffrey Epstein
Rhiannon Ingle