Trump calls Epstein controversy a way of 'deflecting from US administration's success'

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump recently dismissed the renewed attention on Jeffrey Epstein as a political distraction.

He argued that ongoing questions about the disgraced financier serve to divert attention from what he described as significant achievements of the Republican Party and his administration.

For Epstein drama, Trump says, ‘I thought that was finished’

Speaking on the economic gains and defense investments, Trump said, “What this whole thing is with Epstein is a way of trying to deflect from the tremendous success that the Republican Party has.”

“Like, for instance, today we're building the biggest ships in the world, the most powerful ships in the world, and they're asking me questions about Jeffrey Epstein. I thought that was finished,” continued the president.

He added that even on days when the administration was announcing significant developments, reporters continued to press him about Epstein.

The president suggested the issue should be settled, noting that a large volume of documents had already been released.

“I believe they gave over 100,000 pages of documents, and there is tremendous speculation,” he said.

‘A lot of people are very angry’, lashes out Trump

Trump also expressed worry that the release of photos and documents has, in his opinion, unfairly involved individuals who had little or occasional contact with Epstein.

“A lot of people are very angry that pictures are being released of other people that really had nothing to do with Epstein, but they're in a picture with him because he was in a party, and you ruin a reputation of somebody,” Trump went on to say.

“So a lot of people are very angry that this continues. A lot of Republicans are angry because of the fact that it's just used to deflect against a tremendous success,” continued Trump.

Pivoting to economic claims, Trump said the United States was experiencing unprecedented growth and investment.

“Look, we have $18 trillion coming into our country. We have, I believe, we're going to have the most successful economy in history. We inherited a mess. Now prices are coming way down. Gasoline is less than $2 in some states,” Trump bragged.

Returning to Epstein, Trump suggested that Democrats were becoming more involved in the controversy.

“They want to talk about Epstein. And the problem is a lot of Democrats are being caught up in the web. Like Larry Summers. Larry Summers was the head of Harvard. He's now been forced to resign from every board he's on, and he was thrown off the Harvard board," said Trump.

He pointed out ex-Harvard University president Larry Summers, claiming that Summers faced professional consequences because of alleged connections to Epstein. Trump stressed that he never visited Epstein’s private island.

“Now, he was at Epstein's Island a lot. I wasn't. I never went there, by the way. But fortunately, it's nice, but I never went there, but a lot of people did go there,” said Trump.