Donald Trump "directly" ordered his administration to "cover up" millions of documents stemming frominvestigations into Jeffrey Epstein, according to the president's now-former allyTucker Carlson.
The right-wing media commentatortoldVanity Fairthat he urged the president in the summer of 2025 torelease all the documentsconnected to the wealthy and well-connected sex offender, whodied in prison in 2019, but Trump was not convinced.
"My position from the beginning with Trump, I said it to Trump, was, 'I don't understand why you would ever keep any of this stuff secret.' And I got like a bunch of different answers," Carlson, a former Fox News star, toldVanity Fair's Chris Whipple.
"I don't feel any need to cover for Epstein. So I said, 'You shouldn't either.' In the end, it came from Trump directly," he added.
Pressed by Whipple on what exactly came "directly" from the president, Carlson replied: "The order to cover it up came from Trump."
Donald Trump's now-former ally Tucker Carlson claims the president 'directly' ordered his administration to prevent the release of the Epstein files before members of Congress forced the Justice Department to publish them (AFP/Getty)
"I asked him why. And he gave me this long, very emotional explanation that this was all a plot against him, like Russiagate," he said.
After a protracted political battle with members of Congress who drew up legislation to compel the Department of Justice to publish the files, Trump reluctantly agreed to sign the measure into law late last year, kicking offan ongoing legal and political battlefor a fuller picture of Epstein's influence and alleged connections to a wider group of powerful figures who abused women and girls.
The president's name appears thousands of times within the millions of documents released by the Justice Department under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Trump socialized with Epstein throughout the 1990s and 2000s, and Epstein who once described himself as the president's "closest friend."
Trump has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, and one's appearance in the Epstein files does not suggest otherwise. The president has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and insists he cut ties with the pedophile years before he was under investigation.
In response to questions about the president's recollection of his conversation with Carlson about the Epstein files and whether Carlson was accurate, the White House directedThe Independentto Trump'slengthy Truth Social postfrom April that called him, among others, "stupid," "NUT JOBS," "TROUBLEMAKERS," "Hand Flailing Fools" and "LOSERS."
A sign showing a photo of President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein is displayed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer during a press conference to announce oversight efforts on the files of convicted sex offender Epstein on February 26, 2026 (AFP/Getty)
Trump said Carlson "couldn't even finish College" and was "a broken man when he got fired from Fox, and he's never been the same — Perhaps he should see a good psychiatrist!"
"Just as President Trump has said, he's been totally exonerated on anything relating to Epstein," White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis toldThe Independent.
"And by releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee's subpoena request, signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and calling for more investigations into Epstein's Democrat friends, President Trump has done more for Epstein's victims than anyone before him," she added.
