Trump claims people ‘angry’ at Epstein files release, insists he never visited island

Donald Trump has claimed that people are “angry” at the Jeffrey Epstein files being released, which he claimed are distracting from the success of the Republican party. Speaking to the media for the first time since the release of the latest tranche of files, the US president said the pictures could ruin reputations of people that “really had nothing to do with Epstein”. He claimed that the files have been released as a distraction from his own party’s achievements: “What this whole thing is with Epstein is a way of trying to deflect from the tremendous success that the Republican party has.” Turning his attention to Larry Summers, who was mentioned in the files, he stressed: “I never went there [Epstein Island], by the way.”