COLUMN: Trump Accuses Epstein of Conspiring Against Him, and No One Bats an Eye

Fifteen Years of Friendship

In 2002, Trump told New York Magazine that he had known Epstein for fifteen years and that he was a “great guy.” He even added, with his characteristic blunt candor: “They even say he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are quite young. No doubt about it—Jeffrey enjoys his social life.” Those words, spoken more than twenty years ago, now ring like a veiled confession. New documents reveal that Trump traveled on Epstein’s private jet far more often than was initially reported. Emails from prosecutors dating back to 2020 confirm this. Yet Trump has never been indicted, never formally charged with anything related to Epstein’s crimes.

And that’s where I get lost. How can someone associate with a predator for years, praise his “taste” for young women, and then claim to have known nothing? I’m not naive. I know that the world of the powerful works differently. But at what point do we stop pretending? At what point do we demand accountability?

When the Victim Becomes the Perpetrator

Trump now claims that Epstein conspired against him. According to the president, the only mentions of his name in the documents are the result of a plot orchestrated by Epstein and a journalist to undermine his election campaign. It’s a dramatic reversal. The man who for years fueled conspiracy theories about Epstein’s death in prison—suggesting he had been murdered to protect powerful figures—now portrays himself as the victim of a posthumous plot. Epstein’s emails revealed in the new documents do indeed show an obsession with Trump, with messages mocking his presidency. But there’s a chasm between that and claiming an election conspiracy—a chasm that only Trump seems capable of leaping across.

It’s genius, in a way. A twisted, manipulative genius, but genius nonetheless. Turning every accusation into an attack, every revelation into a plot against himself. Trump has understood something we refuse to admit: in a world saturated with information, whoever controls the narrative controls reality. And he controls the narrative.

Lives Shattered in Silence

While Trump and his allies engage in media ping-pong, Epstein’s victims continue to live with their trauma. Dozens of young girls were trafficked, exploited, and abused at Epstein’s properties in Manhattan and Palm Beach. Ghislaine Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for trafficking minors. But she was just one cog in a much larger machine. The new documents mention ten potential co-conspirators, most of whose names remain redacted. Assistant Attorney General Todd Blanche stated on Fox News that it was “not a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.” A statement that has the merit of legal clarity, but which insults the memory of the victims. Because no, partying with a convicted sex predator may not be a crime. But it is certainly a moral failing.

I think of those girls. Of their faces, which I have never seen, and their names, which I will never know. They were crushed by a system that protects the powerful and abandons the vulnerable. And now, they are being asked to watch their tormentors portray themselves as victims. It’s unbearable. Truly unbearable.

When Those in Power Protect Themselves

The Epstein files aren’t just about America. They reveal a global network of influential figures who gravitated toward the disgraced financier. In Europe, scandals are erupting one after another. Peter Mandelson, a former British minister and ambassador to Washington, is facing a criminal investigation for allegedly leaking sensitive market information to Epstein during the 2008 financial crisis. Prince Andrew, stripped of his royal titles, lives in exile on a remote estate after settling a sexual assault case out of court. In Norway, Crown Princess Mette-Marit has issued a public apology for her “lack of judgment” regarding her friendship with Epstein. The network stretched from Silicon Valley to Wall Street, from royal palaces to government offices. Elon Musk, Bill Clinton, ministers, diplomats, industry titans—all crossed paths with Epstein at one time or another.

And that is the real scandal. Not that a rich man was able to commit crimes for years. We already knew that. The real scandal is that everyone knew. Or should have known. These people aren’t idiots. They are among the smartest, most well-informed people on the planet. So how could they have failed to see anything? The answer is simple and heartbreaking: they didn’t want to see.

Burying the Truth Under Lies

The Department of Justice released the documents without any clear organization, context, or verification. The result: total informational chaos. Among the files are unverified anonymous tip-offs, obviously fake letters—such as the one allegedly written by Epstein to pedophile Larry Nassar mentioning Trump’s love for “young, nubile girls”—and doctored videos. The DOJ had to issue a denial on social media to clarify that some documents were forgeries. But the damage was done. Conspiracy theories are flourishing on both sides of the political spectrum. Trump’s supporters see this as proof of a Democratic conspiracy. His opponents brandish every redacted document as evidence of a cover-up. The truth? It’s lost somewhere in between, drowned in an ocean of disinformation.

Perhaps that is the real conspiracy. Not a plot orchestrated by elites in the shadows, but something far more perverse: a system that generates so much noise that we can no longer hear the signal. So many lies that we no longer know how to recognize the truth. And in the end, exhausted and disoriented, we give up. We move on to something else.

An Administration in Turmoil

The Epstein case is taking a political toll on Trump. His first year of his second term has been marked by historically low approval ratings. His electoral base is beginning to crack. Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who had pushed for the release of the files, announced her resignation from the House effective January 5, 2026, following repeated attacks by Trump. Congress, though controlled by Republicans, is threatening to sue the Department of Justice for violating the transparency law. But these threats are futile—the law provides for no penalties and no enforcement mechanism. It’s a paper tiger. Trump has realized he can ignore Congress without consequence. He has realized he can promise transparency and deliver opacity. And that no one will do anything about it.

That’s where we stand. A president who ignores Congress. A Congress that passes toothless laws. Citizens who watch the spectacle with a mixture of fascination and disgust. We have become spectators of our own democratic decline. And the worst part is that we know it. We know it, and we do nothing.

A Poison That Continues to Spread

Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in his prison cell in August 2019. But his toxic legacy continues to taint American public life. Every new revelation fuels the prevailing cynicism, reinforcing the idea that the system is rotten to the core. And perhaps that’s exactly what Trump wants. The more people believe that everyone is corrupt, the less his own corruption seems out of the ordinary. The more people lose faith in institutions, the more they turn to strongmen who promise to tear everything down. The Epstein files reveal more than just one man’s crimes. They expose the gaping flaws in a system that protects the powerful and abandons the weak. A system where wealth buys impunity, where connections are worth more than justice, where the truth is negotiable.

And here I am, powerless, watching this shipwreck unfold. I want to scream, to shake people awake, to tell them to wake up. But I know it won’t do any good. Because we’re already awake. We see everything. We understand everything. And that’s exactly what paralyzes us. We know the system is broken, but we don’t know how to fix it. So we carry on, day after day, pretending that everything is fine.

The Endless Wait for Justice

Trump says it’s time to move on. That this story is a thing of the past. That the real culprits are the Democrats. He may be right about one thing: we’ll probably move on. Not because justice has been served, not because the truth has come to light, but simply because we’re exhausted. Exhausted by the endless scandals, by revelations with no consequences, by broken promises. The Department of Justice continues to release documents in dribs and drabs, promising that millions of pages will follow. But how long will that take? Months? Years? And when everything is finally released, who will still care? Epstein’s victims are still waiting for justice. They are waiting for the names of the co-conspirators to be revealed, for the accomplices to be prosecuted, for the truth to come to light. But that justice will likely never come. Because in the world of the powerful, justice is not blind. It is complicit.

I end this column with a bitter taste in my mouth. No satisfying conclusion, no final revelation, no justice served. Just this nagging certainty that we live in a world where monsters die in their beds and their victims live with their scars. Trump accuses Epstein of plotting against him. And we look the other way. Because it’s easier. Because it’s less painful. Because we’ve given up hope that things can change. And perhaps that is Epstein’s true victory. Not that he escaped justice by taking his own life, but that he managed to convince us that justice doesn’t exist.

Signed, Jacques Provost