BREAKING: Trump Stuns Oval Office Reporters with Blanket Denial of Epstein Ties – “I Was Absolutely Not Near Him” Despite Decades of Photos

By James R. Callahan, White House Correspondent Washington, D.C. – November 18, 2025

President Donald Trump stunned reporters in the Oval Office this afternoon with a categorical, on-camera denial of any meaningful relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, claiming he was “absolutely not” near the late financier despite dozens of widely circulated photographs, flight logs, and witness accounts showing the two men together over a 15-year span.

The extraordinary exchange came as Trump signed an unrelated executive order on insulin pricing. When NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell asked point-blank whether he still supported full congressional release of the remaining Epstein files, Trump’s demeanor shifted from triumphant to visibly agitated.

“Here’s what I want,” Trump began, jabbing his finger at the press pool. “We have nothing to do with Epstein. The Democrats do. All his friends are Democrats. Look at Reid Hoffman. Look at Larry Summers. Look at Bill Clinton—they come to his island all the time, and many others. They’re all Democrats. I was absolutely not near him. Not near him.”

When O’Donnell followed up—“Sir, there are photos of you with Epstein at Mar-a-Lago in 1992, 1997, 2000—” Trump cut her off.

“Those are fake photos. Or doctored. Or I was at a big party with a thousand people. I take pictures with everybody. Doesn’t mean anything. I kicked him out of Mar-a-Lago. I was the only one who kicked him out. Everyone knows that.”

The denial directly contradicts:

• A 2002 New York magazine profile in which Trump called Epstein a “terrific guy” who liked women “on the younger side”;
• Palm Beach police reports from 2005–2006 citing Trump as one of the few members who banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago after an incident involving an underage girl;
• Flight logs showing Trump on Epstein’s private jet at least seven times between 1993 and 1997 (including one trip with his then-wife Marla Maples and infant daughter Tiffany);
• Video footage from NBC archives showing Trump and Epstein laughing together at a 1992 party at Mar-a-Lago, with Trump gesturing toward a group of cheerleaders and saying something inaudible that makes Epstein double over laughing;
• And the newly unsealed 2025 House Oversight Committee documents—including a 2002 memo from Epstein’s attorney referencing “DJT” requesting “maximum discretion” on guest-list overlaps.
• 

Within minutes, the clip was viral. #TrumpEpsteinLies shot to number one worldwide on X, surpassing even the ongoing government-shutdown drama. Side-by-side montages of Trump’s denial next to the decades-old photos racked up tens of millions of views. The Lincoln Project released a 30-second ad titled “Absolutely Not Near Him” before the briefing was even over.

Democrats pounced. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries issued a statement: “The President of the United States just lied to the American people’s faces about a dead pedophile who victimized hundreds of children. If he’ll lie about this, he’ll lie about anything.”

Even some Republicans winced. Sen. Mitt Romney, asked in the Capitol hallway, replied curtly: “There are photographs. Many photographs.” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) told reporters, “I support full release. Let the chips fall where they may.”

The White House press shop went into immediate damage control. Moments after the gaggle ended, Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields tweeted: “President Trump has been 100% consistent— he banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago decades ago and wants total transparency so Americans see the real criminals (Democrats).”

That claim was quickly debunked by timeline: Trump did eventually ban Epstein—sometime around 2007—after the financier’s first arrest in Palm Beach, but only after years of documented socializing.

The denial comes at the worst possible moment for Trump. The bipartisan Epstein discharge petition is now just seven signatures short of forcing a House floor vote. With 38 Republicans already on board—including MAGA stalwarts Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert—passage is considered inevitable. Senate Republicans are quietly signaling they will bottle it up in committee, but the pressure is mounting.

Trump’s abrupt Sunday reversal—publicly urging Republicans to “vote yes” on release after months of privately threatening primary challenges—now looks like panic. Sources inside the West Wing say the president spent Monday morning screaming at aides: “Why didn’t we destroy those files when we had the chance?!”

Outside the White House gates, protesters—many holding enlarged prints of the 1992 and 2000 Trump-Epstein photos—chanted “Tell the truth!” as Marine One prepared for a fundraiser in Florida tonight.

Inside the briefing room, reporters were left staring at one another in disbelief. One veteran White House correspondent, speaking on background, summed it up:

“We’ve seen a lot of lies from that desk. But lying about being photographed next to a man while saying you were ‘absolutely not near him’? That’s a new category.”

As the sun set over Washington, the Epstein files—once dismissed by Trump as a “Democrat hoax”—have become the scandal that refuses to die.

And the President’s own words just poured jet fuel on the fire.