The Jeffrey Epstein files released by the Department of Justice on Friday reportedly consisted of an image of US President Donald Trump, which was quietly deleted from the documents.
However, once the absence of the photo became apparent, outrage erupted among Democrats and other social media users, prompting the DOJ to republish it.
The DOJ had released the first batch of heavily redacted Epstein files, with a large portion of the documents still pending release. The files and images made public on Friday showed Epstein’s desk scattered with photographs, including two that appeared to feature Trump, according to The Daily Beast.
Trump’s image was subsequently removed without explanation, leading many netizens and Democrats to believe that the DOJ was attempting to erase mentions and pictures of Trump from the controversial files.
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Following the backlash, the DOJ then announced on Sunday that Trump’s picture had been reposted “without any alteration or redaction.” Taking to X, the department’s official handle posted, “The Southern District of New York flagged an image of President Trump for potential further action to protect victims.”
The post further mentioned, “Out of an abundance of caution, the Department of Justice temporarily removed the image for further review. After the review, it was determined there is no evidence that any Epstein victims are depicted in the photograph, and it has been reposted without any alteration or redaction.”
They also added a link to the post that takes one directly to the specific picture featuring Trump, Melania, Epstein, and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell as they were at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, attending an event.
The Southern District of New York flagged an image of President Trump for potential further action to protect victims.
Out of an abundance of caution, the Department of Justice temporarily removed the image for further review. After the review, it was determined there is no…
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) December 21, 2025
There was also another image in a drawer that showed a Trump-like man surrounded by women who were in bathing suits. Earlier on Sunday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was questioned by NBC News’ Kristen Welker regarding the redaction of Trump’s images from the released files.
To this, Blanche said, “You can see in that photo, there’s photographs of women. And so we learned after releasing that photograph that there were concerns about those women and the fact that we had put that photo up. So we pulled that photo down. It has nothing to do with President Trump.”
He further added, “There are dozens of photos of President Trump already released to the public seeing him with Mr. Epstein. He has said that in the ’90s and early 2000s he socialized with him. So the absurdity of us pulling down a photo, a single photo, because President Trump was in it, is laughable.”
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) December 21, 2025
When Walker asked Blanche if it meant that the women in that picture with Trump were victims of Epstein’s trafficking ring, the Deputy Attorney General did not respond with an affirmation and rather backtracked, saying, “No, that’s not what I’m saying.”
The Department of Justice has also addressed this question of some images being released and then redacted. Taking to X, the department posted, “As material is released, the Department of Justice has received incoming from individuals alleging to be victims and their lawyers, requesting that certain information be removed.”
It further added, “Out of an abundance of caution, the material is temporarily removed for review and will be released again with appropriate redactions if legally required.”
With files and images being redacted according to the DOJ’s decision and a huge chunk of material still awaiting release, it would be interesting to see if all files indeed see the light of the day or get heavily redacted with specific people in it.
