Trump says he ‘doesn’t like’ Clinton photos in Epstein files, adds: ‘Bill can handle it’

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA: President Donald Trump on Monday, December 22, decried seeing former President Bill Clinton in the Epstein file dump as he called it a 'terrible thing' that potentially ruins reputations.

The POTUS particularly attacked Rep Thomas Massie (R-KY) over his efforts to force a vote on a bill to release the files, which the President eventually signed into law.

Trump fumes at Democrats and 'couple of bad Republicans'

During a presser in Mar-a-Lago on Monday, a reporter asked Trump, "Mr. President. Were you surprised by the number of photos of Bill Clinton in the Epstein files, and can you commit to their full release by the end of the year? Some of the victims were protesting that too many of them were redacted."

The POTUS replied, "I know there are a lot of people who are angry about all of the pictures of other people, you know, but I think it’s terrible. Look, I don’t like the—I like Bill Clinton. I’ve always gotten along with Bill Clinton." 

"I’ve been nice to him, he’s been nice to me. We’ve always got along, and respect him. I hate to see photos come out of him, but this is what the Democrats—mostly Democrats and a couple of bad Republicans—are asking for, so they’ll give me their photos of me too," Trump added.

He also said, "I don’t like the pictures of other people being shown. I think it’s a terrible thing. I think Bill Clinton is a big boy, he can handle it, but you probably have pictures being exposed of other people that innocently met Jeffrey Epstein years ago, many years ago, and they’re, you know, highly respected bankers and lawyers and others." 

Taking a jab at Thomas Massie, Trump added, "If you look at Kentucky, Kentucky is such a great place, but I don’t know, they’ve got a couple of people in there that are very strange in terms of leadership, but Massie’s a loser, and he likes it, and he works with the Democrats."

"He’s just being used by the Democrats because what this whole thing is with Epstein is a way of trying to deflect from the tremendous success that the Republican Party has," he added.

DOJ reposts Trump photo removed from Epstein files

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has reposted an image featuring President Trump that was earlier removed from its Epstein files webpage. 

The image, which shows a desk with an open drawer containing multiple photographs of Trump, was temporarily taken down amid questions over missing files from the initial release of Epstein records last week.

According to the Justice Department, the Southern District of New York flagged the photo for potential further action to protect victims. The DOJ temporarily removed the image for additional review out of an abundance of caution.

Following the review,  officials determined there was no evidence that any Epstein victims were depicted in the photograph. The image has now been reposted without any alteration or redaction.