WASHINGTON, July 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday renewed his denial of any connection to the late American financier Jeffrey Epstein, accusing the Democrats of making up fake information.
"They talk about me. I have nothing to do with the guy," Trump told reporters at the White House before departing for Scotland.
"Larry Summers from Harvard, that Bill Clinton, who you know very well, and lots of other friends, really close friends, of Jeffrey Epstein, should be spoken about," Trump said.
Summers served as U.S. treasury secretary under former President Bill Clinton and as director of the National Economic Council under former President Barack Obama. He is currently a professor and President Emeritus at Harvard University.
"Now, somebody could have written a letter and used my name, but that's happened a lot," Trump said, in an apparent effort to dismiss The Wall Street Journal's recent report, which said that among the handwritten letters Epstein received for his 50th birthday in 2003 was one bearing Donald Trump's signature.
The U.S. president then went on the offensive against the Democratic Party. "Everything's fake with the Democrats ... Everything is fake. They're a bunch of sick people."
Epstein, who had extensive connections with U.S. political and business elites, was arrested on sex crime charges and died in prison in August 2019. His death was officially ruled by suicide.
During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump pledged to release Epstein-related documents if re-elected. However, earlier this month, the U.S. Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a joint memo stating no incriminating "client list" exists and that "no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted."
The Trump administration's shifting stance on the matter has drawn widespread criticism, with some angry supporters even calling for Attorney General Pam Bondi's resignation after she denied the existence of an Epstein client list.
Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was briefed by his attorney general in May that his name was mentioned multiple times in the Epstein files. In response, a White House spokesperson called it a continuation of "fake news." ■