President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance denounced multiple media reports Wednesday that Vance was set to hold a dinner with Cabinet members and other officials at Vance’s residence that night to discuss the administration’s strategy regarding the late Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump was taking questions from reporters after announcing a $100 billion investment by Apple that will focus on bringing more manufacturing to the U.S. A reporter asked him about the alleged dinner. Vance was also in attendance. The event aired live on the Newsmax2 online streaming platform.
“I don’t know. I could ask you that question,” Trump said, looking at Vance. “I don’t know of it, but here’s the man right here.”
Vance then responded: “I saw it reported today, and it’s completely fake news. We’re not meeting to talk about the Epstein situation, and I think the reporter who reported it needs to get better sources.”
“Look, the whole thing is a hoax,” Trump said. “It’s put out by the Democrats because we’ve had the most successful six months in the history of our country, and it’s a way of trying to divert attention to something that’s total [expletive].”
CNN was the first among several media outlets to report the dinner with Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. They allegedly were to discuss whether to release audio and written transcripts of Blanche’s interview with Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving 20 years in prison on sex trafficking charges. Reuters reported the meeting was canceled when news of it leaked.
Trump said any talk about Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died by suicide in federal custody in August 2019, is being used by his opponents to take the spotlight off the successes of his second term.
Trump also said he hasn’t been briefed on what Maxwell told Blanche. He said earlier this week that he wasn’t aware of the decision to move Maxwell from a federal prison in Florida to a federal prison in Texas as Maxwell is seeking to have her conviction overturned by the Supreme Court.
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