BS BULLETIN:

• Tucker Carlson tells Vanity Fair he personally pressed President Trump to release the Epstein files in 2025.
• Carlson claims the decision to keep material secret came “from Trump directly.”
• The White House pushes back, pointing to Trump’s signing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act and subsequent release of millions of pages.

Tucker Carlson is making an explosive new claim about President Donald Trump and the long-running battle over the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Carlson told Vanity Fair’s Chris Whipple that he personally urged Trump in the summer of 2025 to release all of the government’s Epstein-related material.

According to Carlson, Trump wasn’t persuaded.

“My position from the beginning with Trump,” Carlson said, was that he couldn’t understand why the administration would keep any of the material secret. Carlson said he received several different explanations but remained unconvinced.

Then he went considerably further. “In the end, it came from Trump directly,” Carlson told Whipple.

Asked exactly what he meant, Carlson replied: “The order to cover it up came from Trump.”

Carlson claimed he asked Trump why and received what he described as a lengthy and emotional explanation that the controversy was another attempt to target him, similar to the Russia investigation.

The accusation is Carlson’s account of a private conversation. Vanity Fair did not report independent evidence establishing that Trump issued such an order.

And the White House strongly pushed back on Carlson’s characterization.

White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Vanity Fair that Trump had been “totally exonerated” on matters involving Epstein and pointed to the administration’s release of documents, cooperation with the House Oversight Committee and Trump’s signing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Trump signed that legislation in November 2025.

The Justice Department said in January that it had released nearly 3.5 million pages under the law, along with more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images.

DOJ said material not released included duplicate documents, privileged information, material covered by exceptions in the law and records unrelated to the Epstein and Maxwell cases.

Carlson’s allegation is particularly striking given his once-close political relationship with Trump. He campaigned with Trump and JD Vance in 2024 and advocated for Vance to become Trump’s running mate.

That relationship has since deteriorated dramatically, with Carlson breaking with the president over both foreign policy and the administration’s handling of the Epstein records.

DBS WIRE SOURCES:

• Vanity Fair — God and Vance at Yale
• Mediaite — Tucker Carlson claims Trump directly ordered Epstein files cover-up
• The Independent — Carlson claims Trump gave direct order on Epstein files
• Department of Justice — DOJ publishes 3.5 million pages under Epstein Files Transparency Act