A newly disclosed FBI memo has reignited scrutiny of President Donald Trump's past relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, alleging the two men met for lunch in spring 2015-just months before Trump launched his first presidential campaign. The allegation appears in a memo summarizing an interview with a confidential human source and was released as part of a Justice Department document dump exceeding three million records on Jan. 30, 2026.
The memo, dated Dec. 13, 2017, records information provided to FBI agents by a source newly established as a confidential informant. According to the document, the source told investigators that "Epstein knew former President Bill Clinton, and was very close to current President Donald Trump." The source further claimed the two met at one of Epstein's properties in spring 2015.
The alleged timing is politically sensitive. Trump formally announced his candidacy on June 16, 2015, and has repeatedly said his association with Epstein ended years earlier. The White House has long maintained that Trump severed ties with Epstein in the early 2000s, well before Epstein's 2006 indictment in Florida.
As recently as July 2025, Trump reiterated that he barred Epstein from Mar-a-Lago after the financier attempted to recruit spa employees despite warnings not to hire club staff. That explanation has been central to the administration's insistence that there was a definitive break long before Epstein's crimes became widely known.
The FBI memo complicates that narrative but stops short of alleging criminal conduct. It is a summary of a source's claims, not a finding of fact, and does not include corroborating evidence. The Justice Department has cautioned that the document release contains unverified tips and submissions, some of which may be inaccurate or fabricated.
A White House spokesperson dismissed the allegation as "nothing more than a false claim that has no basis in reality," adding that the files include public submissions that "may include fake or falsely submitted images, documents, or videos." The department has also noted that some claims were submitted shortly before the 2020 election and lacked "a shred of credibility."
Beyond Trump, the memo outlines sweeping assertions about Epstein's global role as a financial intermediary. The source claimed Epstein acted as a wealth manager for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the late Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe, alleging he earned fees by helping clients hide assets offshore.
The memo also echoes allegations that Epstein used properties in New Mexico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to gather leverage over powerful associates. The source claimed Epstein "lured and video-recorded underage women" to collect "dirt on other people," language consistent with allegations surfaced in later civil litigation.
Trump's name appears more than 1,000 times across the newly released records, though many references are incidental. Chief of Staff Susie Wiles told Vanity Fair that Trump and Epstein were "young, single playboys together" in the 1990s social scene and insisted Trump is "not in the file doing anything awful."
