Friday showcased yet another trickle in the drip-drip-drip of fresh intelligence from the Jeffrey Epstein files. This instance: novel pictures released by House Democrats displaying Donald Trump and other influential figures like Bill Clinton, Steve Bannon, and Richard Branson, drawn from countless photographs from Epstein’s property.
However, Epstein’s connections with these gentlemen — none of whom have been charged with misconduct by authorities — were already public knowledge, and the images alone reveal very little.
In fact, the more striking tidings on this matter Friday morning might have originated from an alternative source: a survey.
The canvassing reinforced how challenging upcoming document disclosures could prove for Trump, particularly leading up to next Friday’s major cutoff for the Justice Department to submit its holdings to Congress. And that is because a great many citizens – and even Republicans – are prone to accepting, or at least contemplating the possibility, that Trump possessed awareness of something illicit.
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Democrats on the House Oversight Committee unveiled visuals from Jeffrey Epstein’s correspondence on Friday, December 12, 2025. Some visuals have had segments obscured by the Committee.
New visuals released from Epstein’s estate showing Trump, Bannon, Bill Clinton and other prominent individuals
The Reuters-Ipsos poll inquired whether Americans felt that Trump was unaware of Epstein’s alleged offenses prior to their public surfacing. Just 18% stated it was “somewhat” or “very” probable that Trump was ignorant. A full 60% indicated it was “not too” or “not at all” probable that Trump was unaware. That constitutes a 3-to-1 ratio believing Trump knew something.
Even among Republicans, slightly more felt Trump was likely aware (39%) than leaned towards him being unaware (34%).
Trump, again, has not faced accusations of wrongdoing in the Epstein matter, and he has refuted involvement.
Yet, it is not solely this poll that has indicated the populace suspects he conceals something.
A Yahoo News-YouGov survey back in July asked not only whether Trump knew about Epstein’s rumored crimes but also participated in transgressions with Epstein. Approximately half of Americans (48%) expressed belief that Trump had.
But perhaps more surprisingly, only 24% of Americans dismissed that possibility. The remainder were neutral.
And again, even numerous Republicans were not dismissing the notion. Only 55% of Republicans rejected the assertion outright. (13% considered Trump had committed offenses with Epstein, while one-third were neutral.)
To emphasize the remarkable findings these polls convey: Three-quarters of Americans suggested they remained open to the notion that the nation’s president knew about or even partook in offenses with a notorious pedophile. And even a good number of Republicans presumed he grasped some aspect of what Epstein was engaged in.
This implies that, even if there exists no definitive proof linking Trump to malfeasance, the imminent unveiling of further papers could be detrimental to the president, to the degree that they continue to mention Trump or feature his images as they have previously. (As for the visuals and messages from the estate that House Oversight Committee Democrats have shared, the White House has maintained it is a “Democrat hoax,” asserted the correspondence “confirm absolutely nothing, apart from the reality that President Trump did nothing improper” and stated the administration “has accomplished more for Epstein’s victims than Democrats ever have.”)
There are several vital disclaimers regarding what the polling reveals.
One is that the survey questions did not pinpoint the specific type of offenses. Certainly, Epstein is recognized for one very particular kind of transgression. But perhaps the considerable percentage who entertain the thought of Trump being implicated in offenses stems partly from Americans generally just suspecting that highly influential figures are prone to committing some forms of crimes.
Indeed, we have even observed this previously with Trump specifically. Surveys during the 2024 campaign showed that voters stated 54%-38% that they believed Trump had committed “serious federal offenses.” Even long prior to his accusations, a survey conducted amidst the turmoil where Trump was impeached for seemingly compelling Ukraine for election assistance in 2020 showed 63% believed Trump had at least “probably” done illegal things during his public career.
So some of this might be inherent.
But concerning the Epstein offenses, there is no concrete evidence of Trump’s involvement or cognizance, unlike his accusations or the Ukraine issue.
And it is also probable that some of this results from the manner Trump has managed the Epstein files and what we have discovered so far.
The president has, plainly, undertaken numerous actions that certainly suggested he had something to conceal. This encompasses a series of deceptive statements regarding his prior association with Epstein, along with his delayed disclosures about knowing Epstein collaborator Ghislaine Maxwell recruited a junior staffer from Mar-a-Lago, Virginia Giuffre.
There are also multiple indicators suggesting Trump recognized that Epstein had a specific interest in young females, at the very least. And that is not solely his infamous 2002 statement about Epstein favoring women “on the younger side.”
The Epstein correspondence disclosed last month even indicated Epstein suggesting in private that Trump was aware of something concerning Epstein and young women. “Of course he knew about the girls …” Epstein remarked at one juncture in 2019, apparently referencing Maxwell’s recruitment. In another message from 2011, Epstein referred to Trump as the “dog that hasn’t barked” and mentioned Giuffre had “spent hours at my residence” with Trump.
Considering all of that, it ought not to be too astonishing that many Americans suspect the worst and that significantly more seem to at least maintain an open perspective that Trump was involved in or cognizant of Epstein’s offenses.
But with under a week remaining until the Friday target date for the release of the DOJ’s documents, these are not the kinds of figures Trump would desire to see.
And they substantiate the very tangible political peril in all of this for the president. After all, Americans have been assuming the worst regarding the Epstein files for some duration. Trump just provided them cause to believe he possessed something to conceal.
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