Trump photo restored to Epstein files by DOJ after review

The US Department of Justice said on Sunday that it had returned a photo showing president Donald Trump to its latest release of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, after a review found that the photo did not depict any of Epstein’s victims.

In a post on X, the Department of Justice said the image was initially removed “out of an abundance of caution” after the Southern District of New York informed it to conduct an additional review to protect potential victims.

After review, officials concluded that no victims of Epstein appeared in the photo, and it was reposted without “editing or editing,” according to the Justice Department.

“The Southern District of New York has marked President Trump’s photo for potential further action to protect victims,” the Department of Justice wrote. “Out of an abundance of caution, the Department of Justice has temporarily removed the photo for further review. After review, it was determined that there was no evidence that any of Epstein’s victims appeared in the photo, and it has been reposted without any changes or redactions.”

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Earlier Sunday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the photo’s removal had “nothing to do with President Trump” and was driven by concerns about the women depicted, during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

That explanation came after reports that at least 16 files had disappeared from the Justice Department’s Epstein-related public web page less than a day after they were posted on Friday, without public notice or initial explanation, the Associated Press reported.

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Department of Justice headquarters on February 19, 2020 in Washington, DC (Drew Angerer)

The missing files included a file showing a series of photographs displayed on a cupboard and inside a drawer. In the drawer, there was a photo of Donald Trump alongside Melania Trump, Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, the Associated Press reported.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Saturday criticized the image’s removal, writing: “We need transparency for the sake of the American public.”

“This image, Exhibit 468, from the Epstein Files involving Donald Trump, appears to have now been removed from the DOJ release,” Democrats on the House Oversight Committee posted on X.[Attorney General Pam Bondi] Is this correct? What else is being covered up? “We need transparency for the American people.”

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The Justice Department released a trove of Epstein documents on December 19 after President Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November. (Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

The Justice Department released a batch of files following the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which President Trump signed on November 19, 2025, requiring Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all unclassified records, communications and investigative materials related to Epstein within 30 days.

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The agency published thousands of pages on a government website on Friday related to the sex trafficking cases of Epstein and Maxwell. The files were released as a result of a deadline imposed by the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Fox News Digital’s Lori Bashian contributed to this report.