Washington: US President Donald Trump on Saturday dismissed the release of newly surfaced photographs showing him with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and multiple women, saying the images were “no big deal” and that he had not even seen them.

Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office, Trump said, “Everybody knew this man [Epstein] – he was all over Palm Beach,” adding that, “He has photos with everybody… there are hundreds and hundreds of people that have them.”

He further stated, “That’s no big deal… I know nothing about them.”

Who released the photographs?

The images were released by Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee, who made public 19 previously unseen photographs taken from Epstein’s estate. The committee has access to a cache of more than 95,000 images.

Several high-profile figures appear in the photographs, including former US President Bill Clinton, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, filmmaker Woody Allen, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, Steve Bannon and others. Some faces in the images were blacked out by House Democrats before their release.

What did oversight Democrats say?

In a post on X, Oversight Democrats said, “These disturbing images raise even more questions about Epstein and his relationships with some of the most powerful men in the world. Time to end this White House cover-up. Release the files!”

What do the images show?

In one photograph, Bill Clinton is seen standing alongside Epstein and his associate and girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. The image also appears to have been signed by the former president.

Another image shows Woody Allen seated on a director’s chair, with Epstein standing beside him. Allen has previously been accused of child sexual abuse, allegations he has denied.

Speaking to The Sunday Times about his relationship with Epstein, Allen said, “We never, ever, saw Jeffrey with underage girls. He always had a girlfriend but never an underage girlfriend.”

How did the House Committee respond?

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform responded to the X post by the Democrats, stating, “Once again, Oversight Democrats are chasing headlines by releasing a handful of selectively censored and cherry-picked photos from the Epstein Estate.”

They further added, “Nothing in the documents we’ve received shows any wrongdoing.”

The release of the photographs comes as the administration’s deadline to release the Epstein files draws closer. The deadline has been set for next Friday, December 19.

(With agency inputs)