Trump Addresses His Commerce Secretary’s Exposed Visit To Epstein Island: ‘I Was Never There’

President Donald Trump has addressed new revelations that his Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, visited late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein‘s private island in 2012, amid mounting bipartisan scrutiny triggered by recently released Justice Department files related to Epstein’s networks of contacts.

Trump offered his remarks at a White House event Thursday, when asked whether he knew about the visit by Lutnick, who has served as Secretary of Commerce under Trump’s administration.

“No, I wasn’t aware of it, no,” Trump said, adding, “I actually haven’t spoken to him about it, but from what I hear he was there with his wife and children and I guess in some cases some people were. I wasn’t. I was never there. Somebody will someday say that. I was never there.”

The revelation follows Lutnick’s public testimony before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, where he acknowledged that he and his family had lunch with Epstein on his private island, Little Saint James, in December 2012. At the hearing, Lutnick said the encounter occurred during a family vacation while his boat was anchored near the island, and that the visit lasted about an hour.

ABC News reported that Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, pressed the secretary for full disclosure of all records involving Epstein. “It troubles me that you took your family to lunch on his island, that you had appointments with him,” Coons told Lutnick.

Lutnick had previously said that he had cut ties with Epstein years earlier. Newly released Justice Department material shows emails and scheduling records that contradict those earlier statements, prompting questions about the timeline of his relationship with Epstein.

The island, Little Saint James, has been the subject of intense scrutiny since Epstein’s arrest and later death in 2019, as investigators and journalists have combed through millions of pages of court and DOJ files released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The site has been linked to numerous high-profile figures who appear in flight logs, emails, or other records.

Lutnick, one of the wealthiest members of Trump’s cabinet, has sought to blunt criticism, denying any improper relationship with Epstein and asserting that his interactions were limited. He told the Senate panel that he had “nothing to hide” and maintained he had “barely anything to do with that person.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previously said the president “fully supports” Lutnick and views him as a “valuable member of his team.” During his testimony earlier this week, he faced calls to resign from his post as Commerce Secretary. Republican Senator Thomas Massie of Kentucky told CNN that Lutnick should “make life easier on the president, frankly, and just resign,” and that he has “a lot to answer for.”