The friendship between the US president and the world’s richest man has blown up in spectacular fashion.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk have well and truly thrown their toys out of the pram in a public spat spanning press conferences and both their social media platforms.
Musk called Trump’s flagship spending bill a ‘massive, outrageous, pork-filled abomination’ and Trump in turn threatened to cut government contracts with Musk’s firms Starlink and SpaceX.
But amid the mudslinging one accusation has stood out as far more serious than the rest.
In a display of just how bitter the two men are towards one another, Musk claimed Trump’s name is in the Epstein files, which the president has refused to release – and this is the real reason the files have not been made public.
Making the accusation on X, Musk warned: ‘Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.’
The accusation has raised eyebrows, especially considering Trump and Epstein’s friendship which is well documented and goes back decades.
The two businessmen flew between New York and Palm Beach together regularly, partying at Mar-a-Lago Club and eating together at Epstein’s mansion in Manhattan.
Archive footage from 1992 shows Trump and Epstein stood to the side of the dance floor at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, pointing out women as they danced.
In the same year, Florida businessman George Houraney organised a ‘calendar girl’ competition at Trump’s request – but when he arranged for the 28 girls to fly in, he found out the only attendees would be Trump and Epstein.
Speaking to New York Magazine in 2002, Trump said: ‘I’ve known Jeff for 15 years, terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with.
‘It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.
‘No doubt about it – Jeffrey enjoys his social life.’
But their relationship seemed to sour, apparently becoming rivals in 2004 after they competed to buy property in Palm Beach.
Later, Trump reportedly banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago for trying to recruit a woman who worked at the club.
Who was Jeffrey Epstein?
Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein was a convicted sex offender accused of abusing and trafficking underage girls.
He was convicted in 2008 of multiple charges of sexual abuse of minors, but he avoided federal prosecution after taking a plea deal.
In total he spent 13 months in prison, and was allowed to leave on work-release.
Epstein killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial for trafficking. His death was blamed on the negligence and misconduct of prison guards.
At the time, Trump was branded ‘deeply irresponsible’ for sharing a conspiracy theory on X suggesting Bill and Hillary Clinton were involved in his death.
One of Epstein’s alleged victims, Virginia Giuffre, publicly claimed Epstein and Maxwell forced her to have sex with Prince Andrew in 2001 — an allegation the Duke of York has consistently denied.
It is alleged many of Epstein’s crimes were carried out on his private island, Little St James, in the Virgin Islands, which he travelled to and from by private jet.
What has Trump said about Epstein?
After Epstein’s arrest, Trump distanced himself from the sex offender, saying in 2019: ‘I was not a fan. I had a falling out with him a long time ago.’
He had much friendlier words for Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s close confidante, when she was arrested in 2020, saying: ‘I wish her well, whatever it is.’
Maxwell is now serving a 20-year prison sentence for grooming teenage girls to be abused by Epstein.
Trump’s name came up during Maxwell’s trial in 2021.
One woman, testifying under the pseudonym Jane, said Epstein took her to meetTrump at his Mar-a-Lago resort when she was 14. She did not allege any improper behaviour from Trump.
Trump insisted he had never been on Epstein’s plane or private island, but flight logs released during the trial suggested the US president flew on Epstein’s private jet seven times.
His ex-wife Marla Maples, their daughter Tiffany, and his son Eric had also been listed as passengers in the logs.
What are the Epstein files?
The Epstein files refers to all of the evidence gathered by investigators working on the criminal cases against Epstein and his associates.
Many of those court documents – including flight logs for Epstein’s private jet – have already been made public, but many more remain sealed, raising speculation over who else could be implicated.
When Trump returned to the White House last year, he released some of Epstein’s files and promised more would follow, saying he had ‘no problem’ making the documents public.
The FBI is currently reviewing ‘tens of thousands’ of documents relating to Epstein, and these are being redacted to protect the identity of victims and any other ongoing investigations.
More documents are set to be released ‘in the coming weeks’, FBI deputy director Dan Bongino said on Wednesday.
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