Elon Musk has deleted a controversial post in which he alleged that former U.S. President Donald Trump is mentioned in confidential government files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The tech billionaire and owner of X (formerly Twitter) made the explosive claim on Thursday amid an escalating feud with Trump, just days after stepping down from a top advisory role in the White House.
“Time to drop the really big bomb: (Trump) is in the Epstein files,” Musk wrote on X. “That is the real reason they have not been made public.”
Musk provided no evidence to support the accusation and did not specify which files he was referencing.
In a follow-up post, he urged followers to “mark this post for the future,” claiming the truth would eventually surface. Both messages were deleted by Saturday morning.
The allegation came as Trump’s administration reviews a large cache of documents and media related to Epstein, which many of the former president’s supporters believe will expose political and celebrity figures linked to Epstein’s crimes.
While conspiracy theories often target Democrats and Hollywood figures, Trump himself has largely avoided such scrutiny from his own base.
Trump previously acknowledged knowing Epstein, referring to him in a 2002 interview as a “terrific guy” who “likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
However, he has denied ever visiting Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a key location in the criminal investigation.
The recent spat marks a dramatic breakdown in the relationship between Musk and Trump. Just last week, Trump praised Musk following his departure from the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The mood shifted rapidly after Musk harshly criticized a key Trump-backed spending bill, calling it an “abomination.”
Trump retaliated with a fiery response from the Oval Office, fueling a public and political showdown that captured widespread attention.
Although both sides appeared to step back from the confrontation by Friday, the White House denied reports of any planned reconciliation talks.
