Donald Trump comments on King Charles stripping Prince Andrew of royal title over Jeffrey Epstein scandal

“I feel very badly, I mean, it’s a terrible thing that’s happened to the family,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday when asked.

“That’s been a tragic situation, and it’s too bad. I feel badly for the family.”

Andrew was stripped of his royal titles by King Charles on Thursday amid a renewed interest in the former prince’s ties to sex trafficker and billionaire financier Epstein.

He was infamously accused of having had sexual encounters with the late Virginia Giuffre, one of which she alleged occurred when she was just 17 years old, while she was being sex trafficked by Epstein. he has always denied any allegations of wrongdoing.

It comes after Mr Trump’s campaign pledge to declassify Jeffrey Epstein files became a flashpoint of controversy in his second term, as his administration released limited documents while refusing to provide the comprehensive disclosure many expected.

During his 2024 presidential campaign, Mr Trump made headlines by promising to declassify files related to the sex offender, a move that generated significant public interest and support.

But the reality of what has been released and what hasn’t, has sparked outrage across the political spectrum.

In February 2025, Attorney General Pamela Bondi, working with the FBI, took an initial step by declassifying and publicly releasing a first phase of Epstein-related documents.

Ms Bondi stated the action aligned with President Trump’s commitment to transparency, marking what appeared to be the beginning of a comprehensive disclosure process.

The release included documents that had previously been leaked but never formally released by the US government.

The momentum towards full disclosure ground to a halt in July 2025 when the Justice Department under Mr Trump’s administration issued a memo stating that no “client list” of prominent individuals blackmailed by Epstein existed, and that no further documents would be released.

In September 2025, the House Oversight Committee released over 33,000 pages of Justice Department documents from the federal investigation into Epstein, though many of these documents were already in the public domain.

The sheer volume of pages was substantial, but contained little new information that hadn’t already been scrutinised, analysts found.

The House Oversight Committee also obtained and released records directly from the Epstein estate, including a “birthday book” that contained a drawing and an alleged signature from Mr Trump himself.

Mr Trump has previously characterised the Epstein matter as a “hoax”.