U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he leaves the Roosevelt Room after signing an executive order to reinstate the Presidential Fitness Test, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 31, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura
The Jeffrey Epstein controversy continues to dominate headlines, but President Donald Trump is hoping it will go away. Trump is urging MAGA Republicans to move on from Epstein, claiming that the story is a "hoax" being pushed by Democrats. But former Fox News host Megyn Kelly is saying that Trump's hardcore MAGA base has no desire to move on.
In an article published on Friday morning, August 1, Bloomberg News' Jason Leopold reports that Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to federal law enforcement show Trump's name to be redacted from Epstein-related material.
"While reviewing the Epstein files," Leopold explains. "FBI personnel identified numerous references to Trump in the documents, the people familiar with the matter told me. Dozens of other high-profile public figures also appeared, the people said. The appearance of Trump's name or others in the Epstein files is not evidence of a crime or even a suggestion of wrongdoing. In preparation for potential public release, the documents then went to a unit of FOIA officers who applied redactions in accordance with the nine exemptions."
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Leopold adds, "The people familiar with the matter said that Trump's name, along with other high-profile individuals, was blacked out because he was a private citizen when the federal investigation of Epstein was launched in 2006. In particular, the reviewers applied two FOIA exemptions to justify their redactions."
A Trump White House spokesperson and the FBI declined to be interviewed for Leopold's article, and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) didn't respond to him.
"If you're surprised by the revelation that the FBI used privacy exemptions to withhold the name of a sitting president, you're not alone," Leopold reports. "However, it's common practice for government agencies to redact names on privacy grounds, even when they're clearly public figures like Trump. I lost count of how many times the government invoked a privacy exemption in response to my FOIA requests to deny releasing records on public figures and government officials."
Leopold's reporting is generating a lot of discussion on X, formerly Twitter.
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The conservative group Republicans Against Trump tweeted, "NEW via Bloomberg: The FBI redacted Trump's name from the Epstein files just before higher-ups said last month that releasing the documents 'would not be appropriate or warranted.' This is what a cover-up looks like."
X user Pure Phoenix posted, "Wild how the name gets scrubbed right before they say it's 'not appropriate' to release. Feels shady — like, why the secrecy if there's nothing there? Markets might shrug, but folks like @CharlesMooreX1 would probably call this another elite handshake moment. Sketchy either way."
Another X user, Gerald Wayne, wrote, "The FBI REDACTED Donald Trump's name from the Epstein files, confirmed by Bloomberg. Let that sink in. While the media drags corpses to connect everyone else to Epstein, Trump’s name gets black ink and federal protection. Why? Because he was a 'private citizen' in 2006? So was everyone else on the damn list. This isn't about privacy. It's about selective shielding, the system protecting its own. You still think this is about justice?"
Podcaster Brian Allen commented, "BREAKING: According to Bloomberg, the FBI has reportedly redacted Donald Trump's name from the Epstein files. The same agencies that lost the camera footage… The same ones that claimed he 'wasn't in the files'.… Are now accused of scrubbing his name from documents tied to one of the largest trafficking rings in modern history. The cover-up is worse than the crime and the crime was monstrous. More to come."
Accountant Brian Coyle tweeted, "Makes Watergate look like a minor misdemeanour."
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Read the full Bloomberg News article at this link.