Published: Feb 18, 2026, 08:31 IST | Updated: Feb 18, 2026, 08:33 IST
Donald Trump reshared a supporter’s post defending him against Epstein links, as he reiterated being “exonerated.” While allies dismiss allegations as political attacks, Democrats cite Epstein files mentioning Trump, keeping the controversy alive.
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(Photograph: AFP/DOJ)
stop this bulls**t: Trump shares a post defending his links with Epstein
US President Donald Trump has shared a post by his supporter who has slammed Democrats and media for linking him to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump shared a post by American broadcast news analyst Mark Reed Levin in which he slammed a ABC news report that claimed that a former police chief had told the FBI that he had received a call from Trump in mid-2000s when he was investigating Epstein. The ex-police chief said that Trump thanked him for probing Epstein. “thank God you are stopping him, everyone has known he's been doing this.”
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(Photograph: AFP)
What Mark Levin said in Trump's defence?
Mark R Levin quoted the report in his X post and wrote, “Now finally, stop this bulls**t trying to link POTUS to Epstein. The Woke Reich grifters, congressional Democrat hacks and the media thugs continue to libel POTUS, from Russia to Epstein. We've a country to save from these reprobates and others.”
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(Photograph: AFP/DOJ)
Trump denies link with Epstein and asks Americans to move on
This comes a day after Trump denied any links to convicted Epstein, saying he has "nothing to hide" and has been “totally exonerated.” Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump repeated his stance and said, "I have nothing to hide. I've been exonerated. I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein." He added, "They went in hoping that they'd find it and found just the opposite. I've been totally exonerated." Earlier in February, Trump stated that he never visited Epstein’s ‘infested’ private island and even suggested that Americans should move on from the Epstein scandal. He accused Democrats and their donors of creating fake stories and slammed author Michael Wolff for spreading lies about his links with Epstein. But, he also accepted being friends with Epstein for 17 years “Nothing came out about me other than it was a conspiracy against me,” he said to reporters in Oval Office.
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(Photograph: AFP/DOJ)
Did DOJ redact Trump's name?
The Trump administration has been accused of redacting US president's name from Epstein Files. Lawmakers have complained that redactions in the files appear to go beyond the limited exemptions allowed in a law Congress passed nearly unanimously in November. Congressman Jamie Raskin, a senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee claimed that Trump's name appears in the Epstein Files over one million times. He made the revelations after reviewing the unredacted version of the Epstein Files. Speaking to Axios, Raskin said, "it appears more than a million times. So it's all over the place". He later clarified that he "'Trump,' 'Donald or Don' and it came up with more than a million results." The Democrat added that he “obviously didn't have the time to review each one, and I obviously cannot guarantee that every mention of a Donald is Donald Trump as opposed to some other Donald.”
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(Photograph: AFP/DOJ)
What we really know about Trump and Epstein's links?
Trump and Epstein's links dates back to early 2000s. Though Trump has insisted that he was not a close friend of Epstein, last year, The Wall Street Journal published Epstein's birthday album which allegedly had sexually suggestive birthday message from Trump from 2003. US president denied writing or signing the message, calling it "fake" and suing WSJ. In 2002, Trump told New York magazine that he has known Epstein for 15 years, calling him a “terrific guy.” He added, ”He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.” In 2019, Trump attempted to play down his relationship, insisting: “I knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him.” Trump said the pair had fallen out years earlier, and claimed: “I was not a fan of his.” There are photographs of the duo at Mar-a-Lago, Victoria’s Secret Angels event in New York. Photos also show Trump and Epstein with Melania Trump and Ghislaine Maxwell at an event in 2000.
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(Photograph: AFP/DOJ)
From Russia hoax to move on: What Trump said on Epstein Files
Trump said a number of things about Epstein Files since he came to power in 2025. First, he dismissed it as ‘hoax’, then he called it fabricated lies by the "Radical Left" to frame him, then he claimed that it is a “Russia Scam” started by Democrats. He even slammed his own supporters for Epstein “obsession”, calling them “weaklings.” Amid pressure from all to release the files, Trump attempted to distance himself from Epstein and said that he cut ties with the sex offender because the disgraced financier "stole" employees who worked for him at the Mar-a-Lago spa. Trump finally signed the Epstein Files Transparency Bill in December after Congress' approval, and made it a federal law.