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One of the itineraries indicated that Epstein expected Musk to make a trip to his private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands on Dec. 6, 2014, but then asked "is this still happening?" Musk told Vanity Fair in 2019 that he had visited Epstein's New York City mansion and that Epstein "tried repeatedly to get me to visit his island," but the Tesla CEO had declined. In June, Musk wrote in a post on X, that he thought Trump and his administration were withholding Epstein-related files from the public view in order to protect the president's reputation. "Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files," Musk, who was in the midst of a public spat with the president, wrote at the time. "That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!" Trump was mentioned in previously released court documents from the Epstein case, but has not been formally accused of wrongdoing. Musk started the year leading the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an effort to slash the size of the federal government and reduce the power of various regulatory agencies. He left DOGE in May, and he and the president proceeded to hurl insults at each other in public over a number of disagreements. However, Trump and Musk remain close enough that they sat together at a memorial service for Charlie Kirk earlier this month after the right-wing activist was assassinated while speaking at a university in Utah. The partially redacted files also indicated Epstein had breakfast with Bannon on Feb. 16, 2019, and lunch with investor Peter Thiel on Nov. 27, 2017. Bannon is a long-time Trump ally, and Thiel was a major backer of Trump ahead of the 2016 election who spoke at the Republican National Convention. The files also mentioned that Epstein booked a "tentative breakfast party" with Microsoft founder Bill Gates, historically a supporter of Democrats, in December 2014. Musk, Thiel, Bannon and Gates weren't immediately available for comment. WATCH: House Speaker Mike Johnson on Epstein files
