It is becoming tighter for Trump - The connection that was never meant to be seen - and that he still cannot explain

There are political stories that lie in the dark for a long time until one discovery tears everything open. An analysis of private messages from Jeffrey Epstein’s communications archive belongs exactly in this category. It shows that Epstein, in the months before his arrest, had direct access to Donald Trump’s innermost power circle - and that Steve Bannon, the chief strategist of the Trump movement, actively worked to protect Epstein politically and publicly. What looks like an ominous echo from the past reveals itself on closer inspection as a meticulously documented reality. The messages obtained by the House Oversight Committee paint a picture that fits as little with Trump’s later attempts at distancing as almost anything else. While the President publicly insisted he had cut Epstein out of his life long ago, the actual contact moved in an entirely different direction. Epstein wrote to Bannon not only about the smallest shifts in the balance of power inside the White House - he transmitted information that only someone with access to Trump himself or to his closest circle could have known.

The messages begin in March 2019. What Epstein wrote to Bannon that afternoon was far more than chatter from the West Wing. It was insight that only the top leadership circle knew: Trump’s growing frustration with his Vice President Mike Pence, the thought of replacing him with Mike Pompeo, and an absurd but apparently real episode in which Trump asked both John Kelly and Jared Kushner to push each other out of their positions.

Epstein wrote at 14:46:08: “Djt. Now really angry at Pence” At 14:46:55: “thinks Pompeo would be better as vice president” At 14:47:12: “Says Pence is not really loyal” And finally at 14:47:38: “And yes, he asked Kelly to get rid of Jared, and then Jared to get rid of Kelly. Completely normal so to speak” Bannon responded immediately, at 14:46:31: “How did you hear that and why is he like that” Then at 14:50:06: “This is why everything is so messed up” And at 14:50:17: “Pompeo much better as vice president” None of this was public. And yet Epstein predicted these developments months before the media reported them. This is no coincidence but an indication of a connection that Trump still downplays - and that becomes tangible in these messages.

It becomes especially delicate with a message from June 28, 2019. Epstein wrote to Bannon at 10:58: “Now you understand why Trump wakes up at night in a cold sweat when he hears that you and I are friends.” Bannon’s reply at 10:59: “Dangerous.” It is a sentence that contains everything Trump later tried to deny. Epstein believed that Trump knew about his exchange with Bannon - or would soon know. And considering the type of information Epstein provided, this is not a far-fetched assumption.

A second message thread explains why Epstein was convinced that Trump might be nervous. In early December 2018, he wrote to another contact: “yes thanks. it is crazy. because I am the one who can bring him down.” A declaration that unfolds its effect only when one pieces together the months before and after: Epstein, who has intimate insight into Trump’s environment; Bannon, who continues to operate the political machinery of the Trump movement; and a President who publicly claims all this lies long behind him while everything else unfolds behind the scenes. But the communication was not limited to the White House. Epstein was also embedded in Bannon’s European projects - in that phase when Bannon attempted to forge an axis of right-wing parties in Europe, with Matteo Salvini, Viktor Orban, Nigel Farage and Marine Le Pen as key figures. Bannon sent Epstein internal briefings provided by his European organizer Benjamin Harnwell.

On July 22, 2018, Epstein received through this channel a detailed analysis of Bannon’s planning status. Epstein responded at 01:51:58: “9th circle” Bannon wrote back: “Abandon hope all ye who enter here” A few minutes later Epstein sent another question: “Hicks?” Bannon, terse and dry: “Well played sir” Epstein knew who was involved, who would travel, which politicians Bannon wanted to include, and he discussed all of this with him as if he were part of the project. In March 2019, the two then discussed in real time the new state charges against Paul Manafort. Epstein wrote at 11:22:18: “Manafort new. York charges. Symbolic of what is coming” Bannon replied at 11:26:12: “Saw it - now it gets serious” Epstein at 11:27:14: “His choice now is the risk. Attica” Bannon at 11:27:52: “Will they let his wheelchair up there at all”

All of this looks like a view into a control room where politics, justice, Europe and personal loyalties intersected - and Epstein was right in the middle. The messages become even more explosive in those exchanges that refer to the weeks before Epstein’s arrest. Epstein and Bannon were working together on a documentary project intended to rehabilitate Epstein.

It involved interviews, prominent participants, filming locations - and Epstein’s private island Little St. James, the place at the center of the abuse allegations. At 03:58:06 on July 6, 2019, Epstein wrote to Bannon: “We are scheduled to go to his house in Cold Spring Harbor. I will then go to the airport and to the island. For the rest of the week.” Bannon asked at 03:59:04: “If we can arrange it, can we film on the island?” Epstein’s answer, five seconds later: “Yes” Bannon wrote at 03:59:23: “Perfect” This is not a suggestion, not speculation. It is the documented plan to film on the island that for years had symbolized Epstein’s crimes. And it shows how far this cooperation extended - until the very last hours. Because in the afternoon Bannon wrote at 16:35:17: “Can we do late morning, say 11 am” Epstein replied at 16:37:20: “All canceled” Bannon responded: “You are not coming?” No further messages follow.

At this point Epstein had already been arrested in Teterboro. In another exchange, Epstein and Bannon even discussed high-level diplomats. On June 17, 2019, Epstein introduced him to “Miro” - Miroslav Lajcak, then Foreign Minister of Slovakia, OSCE Chairperson, and former President of the UN General Assembly. Epstein wrote at 07:07:23: “Current. Slovak foreign minister. Current chairman OSCE. Former president United Nations” Bannon responded at 07:08:01: “Yes yes yes” Then at 07:08:21: “Pompeo and Kiron Skinner” And at 07:08:30: “Let me take care of it” These conversations do not prove that Epstein intervened in foreign policy. But they show that he moved in an environment where such contacts were discussed as a matter of course.

In the end a picture emerges that shakes the political self-description of recent years: Jeffrey Epstein moved until shortly before his arrest in the very environment that Donald Trump publicly claimed not to know anymore. He transmitted secret internal information from the White House, was part of Bannon’s projects in Europe, discussed Manafort, diplomats, filming locations, strategies - and wrote only a week before his arrest that Trump woke up at night in fear when he heard that he and Bannon were friends. It is the story of proximity, power and fear. And it is a story that Trump has not been able to answer so far.