Fact Check: Did Trump post viral ‘dog didn’t bark’ message about Epstein?

WASHINGTON, DC: A viral screenshot circulating on social media in November 2025 claimed that President Donald Trump reacted to newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents by posting an elaborate message on Truth Social.

The alleged post called Epstein a “total creep” and included unusual lines such as “The dog didn’t bark because the dog didn’t have time! Too busy making the country great, building towers, eating tremendous steaks.”

Trump post about Epstein email spreads after document release

The claim spread as thousands of pages of Epstein-related documents were released by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on November 12. Many users believed Trump had directly responded to one 2011 Epstein–Maxwell email referring to him as “the dog that hasn’t barked.”

The circulating screenshot shows what appears to be a Truth Social post from President Trump. In the alleged post, Trump denies knowing Epstein, mocks the references to him in the released documents, and uses Trump-like phrasing such as “I meet millions of people… greatest handshake ever!”

The meme claims his post was specifically addressing an April 2, 2011 email between Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, in which they describe Trump as “the dog that hasn’t barked.”

According to the rumor, Trump supposedly used this email as justification for an exaggerated online response defending himself, denying ties to Epstein, and ridiculing the investigation

Fact Check: No, Trump did not post the viral 'dog didn’t bark' message 

A detailed verification shows that the screenshot is fabricated and no such post was ever made by Trump.

A search of Trump’s Truth Social posts found no record of the alleged statement, and a manual review of his live Truth Social feed.

There were also several inconsistencies in the viral screenshot that proved it was fake. The avatar appearing in the image did not match Trump’s official Truth Social profile photo, which features his portrait stylized with an American flag overlay.

The platform labels shared posts as “ReTruths,” a tag missing from the alleged screenshot. It also lacked a timestamp, something that Truth Social always displays, and the typography as well as the user interface elements did not align with the platform’s authentic design.

Trump did address the mass release of Epstein documents on November 12, but his actual posts were entirely different from the viral claim. He referred to the Epstein news as a “hoax,” accused Democrats of using it to “deflect” from the government shutdown, and urged Republicans not to fall for the distraction.

He later followed up with a second post stating, “The Democrats are using the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax to try and deflect from their massive failures…” None of his real posts included lines about “the dog didn’t bark,” Epstein being a “total creep,” or “building towers, eating tremendous steaks.” 

On November 12, 2025, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released over 20,000 pages of documents from the Epstein estate, including emails referencing high-profile individuals such as Trump.