Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) and other Democrats claimed that President Donald Trump spent his first Thanksgiving as president with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Among the trove of emails relating to Epstein released by the House Oversight Committee was an exchange with NEXT Model Management founder Faith Kates, during which Epstein claimed Trump was also “down there” on Thanksgiving. Casten seized on the email and posted a screenshot of it along with a matter-of-fact comment claiming Trump spent the holiday with Epstein.
“Trump spent his first Thanksgiving after getting elected President with Jeffrey Epstein. 2017,” Casten’s post read.
The email was seized upon by many liberal social media users at face value. The Democratic Party’s X account also repeated the claim, adding the caveat, “Documents show.” The Democratic Party X account soon after deleted the post.
BREAKING: The official X account of the Democrat Party has DELETED their post claiming President Trump spent Thanksgiving with Jeffrey Epstein in 2017
He was literally the President, dumbasses. You don’t think someone would’ve noticed?!
Trump should BANKRUPT the DNC for this… pic.twitter.com/dXiyOg4MYy
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) November 13, 2025
The exchange has triggered several different interpretations. Some interpret Epstein’s response to the query of “who else is down there” as referring to who was in the general Palm Beach, Florida, area. Others interpreted it as a sarcastic remark.
The claim that Trump spent Thanksgiving with Epstein is unlikely for several reasons, particularly as the leader of the free world had a rather public-facing Thanksgiving, replete with a visit to Coast Guard troops and a video call with servicemembers. For dinner, he dined at Mar-a-Lago with his family.
The claim also contradicts nearly all other emails released this week, which showcased the animosity between Epstein and Trump. In one February 2017 email, Epstein said that all his life, he’d never met anyone “as bad as Trump.”
“Not one decent cell in his body,” he added.
The comments were also touted by the Democrats’ social media account.
EPSTEIN SAID HE ADVISED RUSSIAN UN AMBASSADOR ON HOW TO DEAL WITH TRUMP
The White House was dismissive of the allegations.
“These emails prove literally nothing. Liberal outlets are desperately trying to use this Democrat distraction to talk about anything other than Democrats getting utterly defeated by President Trump in the shutdown fight. We won’t be distracted, and the entire Administration will continue fulfilling the promises the President was elected on, including Making America Affordable Again,” White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson told the Washington Examiner in a statement.
