US President Donald Trump criticized the recent release of Jeffrey Epstein files, calling it “a terrible thing.” Trump defended Bill Clinton and other figures featured in the photos, including Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, and Lord Mandelson. Despite being named in the files, Trump claimed that many celebrities had innocent encounters with Epstein over the years, who was a convicted child sex offender. Trump expressed his frustration, attributing the Epstein controversy to detracting from the Republican Party’s success. He spoke positively about Clinton, asserting that the former president could handle any scrutiny related to his past interactions with Epstein. The Daily Mail reported that Trump blamed Congressional Democrats for pushing the file release, acknowledging Epstein’s widespread connections in the 1990s and 2000s. Following a mandate under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the US Department of Justice released a substantial amount of documents related to the Epstein investigation. Epstein, the disgraced financier, died by suicide in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges. The investigation revealed that guards assigned to monitor Epstein had fallen asleep and falsified records, while cameras in the facility were not functioning properly.