While we wait for Trump's first public event of the day to get under way, here's a look at what some of those calling for more documents from the Epstein investigation to be released have said.

Democrat Representative Dan Goldman, who is a former prosecutor, writes in a post on X, external: "What about videos, photographs and other recordings? What about FBI 302’s (witness interviews)? What about texts and emails?"

"That’s where the evidence about Trump and others will be. Grand jury testimony will only relate to Epstein and Maxwell," he says.

And Republican Thomas Massie, who is working to force a vote in the US House of Representatives on releasing the complete files, writes, external: "Folks, Keep the pressure on, it’s working. But we want all the files."

We're expecting to hear from Trump within the next few minutes, during a ceremony which will see him sign new cryptocurrency legislation, known as the Genius Act, into law.

Reporters, including from the BBC, will be in the room but there's no guarantee that he'll speak about Epstein.

You can also follow along by pressing watch live at the top of this page.

We'll be following the event and will bring you the key relevant lines.

Blanca Estrada and Madeline Gerber
Reporting from Washington DC

Image source, BBC/Blanca Estrada

Anthony, a man visiting Washington DC from North Carolina, tells us his support for the president has not changed because of the Epstein files.

He says he doesn't support a lot of people in politics and he wants things to stop being so partisan.

"If you represent the American people and what they vote for...I'm behind you, I don't care what party you're from," he adds. "It should always be about the American people first."

Meanwhile, the discourse around the Epstein files has even reached international tourists visiting the city.

Belgian visitor Leith says he questions whether the files even exist, but if they do, he says they could possibly spell trouble for Trump.

"My opinion of Trump is maybe not that important, but for his backers, if he's really mentioned there, it will be a split in the Republican party," he says. "You already see some Maga supporters who are in doubt."

Image source, Getty Images

A heated confrontation between two Trump administration officials is building as Maga loyalists split over calls for Jeffrey Epstein files to be released.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino reportedly got into an argument last week at a White House meeting about the public release of the Epstein investigation review, sources told the BBC’s US partner, CBS News.

Last Friday, Bongino didn’t show up to work - and now he’s contemplating resigning over the Epstein fallout, sources also told CBS. He's also been inactive on his X account for nearly 10 days.

White House spokesman Harrison Fields told press that "any attempt to sow division within this team is baseless” and “this work is being carried out seamlessly and with unity”.

Under mounting pressure, Donald Trump says he has ordered the justice department to release additional documents related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Supporters of the president are now divided, torn between a grassroots push for transparency and a party leader eager to move on.

In the latest episode of The Explanation podcast, the BBC's Caitríona Perry, Sumi Somaskanda and Bernd Debusmann Jr explore how the Epstein files have exposed deep fractures within Trump’s base.

You can listen to the episode over at BBC Sounds.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Image source, Bernd Debusmann Jr/BBC News

I'm still at the White House, sitting at the BBC's desk in an extremely cold basement alongside a handful of other reporters.

Just a few moments ago, several cheerful young White House staffers popped down to hand out a six-page document, on White House letterhead, entitled "President Trump's Week of Wins".

The document is, essentially, an extremely long list of news items the White House sees as being positive, with sub-categories including "Making America Wealthy Again", "Securing the Border and Deporting Illegal Criminals" and "Cutting Wasteful Spending and Saving Taxpayer Dollars".

These lists are sent out via email with some frequency, but this is the first time I've actually been handed a hard copy despite being here four or five days a week.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also posts a weekly "MAGA minute" in which she details various items the White House sees as successes.

While Trump himself posted about Epstein earlier today - and we may hear from him later - staff here have largely avoided the topic today.

Blanca Estrada and Madeline Gerber
Reporting from Washington DC

We've been talking to people at the National Mall in Washington DC, asking them their thoughts on the Jeffrey Epstein controversy.

James from Tennessee says he hopes Donald Trump will be more open and transparent about the Epstein files.

"Earlier on in the campaign, we heard it's all going to come out, the Epstein files, we're all going to see all these names, the flight logs and all this stuff and then fast forward to now, [it's a] closed book," he says. "What happened?"

He says that Trump needs to "get back to being more transparent" on this topic, adding that the grand jury testimony could quell some of the concerns.

"Just be open and honest with everyone," he says.

As we've been reporting, Attorney General Pam Bondi says they are ready to unseal grand jury transcripts on Friday. But it could take quite some time before those documents are made public.

Image source, Reuters

If you're just joining us, here's what you need to know:

Trump's request: Yesterday, US President Donald Trump asked for the release of court documents relating to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Attorney General Pam Bondi said they were ready to unseal grand jury transcripts today - but it could actually take much longer for a judge to release the documents.

A 'bawdy' note?: The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Trump's name appeared on a "bawdy" 2003 personal note to Epstein, a claim the president has since called "fake".

Murdoch under fire: He also hit out at media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and "his pile of garbage newspaper" the Wall Street Journal. He threatened to sue the media tycoon and the newspaper over the story, describing it as "false, malicious, and defamatory".

Could the House hold the cards?: Members of the US House of Representatives could be asked to vote on whether to release the documents relating to the prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein.

Risky strategy: Trump is left with the problem of trying to prove a negative. And for the moment, some of his supporters aren't buying it, writes our North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher.

What's next?: We're expecting to hear from Trump later today during a ceremony signing new cryptocurrency legislation into law, but there's no guarantee he'll speak about Epstein.

Mike Wendling

Image source, Getty Images

It might seem odd that out of everything that has happened in the first six months of Donald Trump's second term, it's a years-old investigation of a dead sex offender that has sparked such turmoil in the Maga universe.

But for some of Donald Trump’s most vocal supporters, this case is about much more than terrible crimes carried out by a powerful man.

They see the continued questions swirling around Epstein as prime evidence of their belief in a "deep state" that is plotting against ordinary Americans.

This conspiratorial world view is a major strain of Maga thought. And the very real Epstein case has been subsumed into broader and less factual narratives – such as Pizzagate, the false claim that a child sex abuse ring was being run out of a Washington restaurant, and QAnon, the sprawling interactive conspiracy theory that posits that the world is being run by an elite Satanic cabal.

Maga influencer Jack Posobiec, who himself initially gained fame spreading Pizzagate rumours, recently explained the views of his audience on a podcast.

"It's not that they care about Epstein personally," he said. "It's that they care that there's this optic that Epstein was somehow involved with a shadowy system that actually has control over our government, control over our institutions, control of our lives, and really is a ruling power over us."

Posobiec is just one of a host of Maga influencers who can usually be counted on to support pretty much anything the president says or does - but who are now frustrated with the Trump administration and asking tough questions about the Epstein case.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Image source, Getty Images

As we've been reporting, Donald Trump has threatened to sue media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal after it reported that the president's name appeared on a "bawdy" 2003 personal note to Epstein. Trump denies this.

The Wall Street Journal's reporting on the Epstein case has pitted Trump against Rupert Murdoch - a man with whom the US president has had a long and complicated relationship.

The two have known each other for decades, and the 94-year-old media tycoon's media empire, which includes Fox News, is often credited with helping propel Trump to the White House.

By the time of Trump's unsuccessful 2020 re-election bid, Murdoch appears to have grown wary of him.

"We want to make Trump a non-person," Murdoch wrote in an email that emerged during court battles over Fox's role in the 2020 election.

Trump's more recent victory in 2024 seems to have brought the two men together again. During a February visit to the White House, Trump referred to Murdoch as "a class by himself" and "an amazing guy".

The clash over the Epstein story also comes just days after Murdoch was reportedly among those at Trump's side at the Club World Cup final in New Jersey.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from Washington DC

Image source, Getty Images

Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove, a Democrat from California, told the BBC in a written statement that "it is fascinating that Republicans are having a meltdown over exposing the truth".

"Why they would want to continue to cover for a rich and powerful man who preyed on young women is beyond me," she adds.

"Trump and Bondi's claim that they will release credible, verified grand jury testimony is a red herring," she says, adding that "it means nothing".

"Release the damn files and stop hiding behind legal vernacular," the statement concludes.

Image source, Getty Images

Members of the US House of Representatives could be asked to vote on whether to release the documents relating to the prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein.

Representatives Thomas Massie (Kentucky's Republican representative) and Ro Khanna (California's Democrat representative) have proposed a so-called "discharge petition", which has been dubbed the "Epstein Files Transparency Act".

It would require Attorney General Pam Bondi to "make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Attorneys’ Offices” relating to Epstein.

The proposed resolution has already gained the support of 15 bipartisan co-sponsors, external, including Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene and Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

To bypass House leadership the petition needs to reach 218 signatures - however, the Congress website notes that "discharge is designed to be difficult to accomplish and has rarely been used successfully".

Donald Trump is facing an unusual amount of pressure from his own supporters to release documents on Jeffrey Epstein.

One Republican pressure group has even resorted to pushing its message on a Times Square billboard.

"Why won't Trump release the Epstein files? Americans want answers," a huge ad from Republican Accountability in the popular New York hotspot reads.

In a statement, the Republican pressure group suggests that Trump "is trying to shut this down by ordering Republicans to stop asking questions about the Epstein files".

"But the more he rants, the more Americans want to know what his administration is hiding," the statement adds.

Image source, X/Republican Accountability

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from Pennsylvania

The demands for the Trump administration to release Jeffrey Epstein files has sent Washington into a frenzy.

But on the ground in north-east Pennsylvania, Trump's supporters believe their president would ultimately handle the situation.

Vice-President JD Vance visited the town of West Pittston this week, and received a warm welcome from supporters.

"When he's ready, he'll let them out," Ed DeLucca, 72, tells me. He says he hopes Trump will bring the documents to light.

"There's a reason for it," he adds on the delay. "They'll come out."

Voters like Chrissy Matticks were far more focused on the economy and the border, and gave the president high marks for his policies - including the controversial roundups and deportations of undocumented immigrants.

"I'd say, to our Maga base: Have faith in President Trump," she tells me.

That's not to say everyone in West Pittston was sanguine about the files. Steven Taylor, a truck driver, told BBC's US partner CBS News that Trump needed to prioritise the release of the files.

"We didn't ask for it. And now we want it. We demand it."

Image source, Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images

"My father has a very specific way of speaking. People all over the world have mimicked it for decades," Donald Trump Jr says in a post on X.

He's coming to the defence of his father, over the Wall Street Journal article which alleges Trump sent a lewd personal birthday note to Epstein in 2003.

It reportedly contains a joking reference that “enigmas never age” and allegedly ends with the words: "A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret."

The newspaper says the card allegedly had a lewd drawing in it, done by heavy marker.

"The insanity written in the Wall Street Journal, AIN’T IT and everyone knows it. Also in 47 years I’ve never seen him doodle once. Give me a break with the fake 'journalisming'", Trump Jr adds in response.

He is quoting a post that says Trump has never used the word "enigma" before, however video footage shows him saying the word in 2015.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Image source, Bernd Debusmann Jr/BBC News

I've just arrived at the White House, where reporters are starting to trickle in. Epstein is, unsurprisingly, the topic of conversation in the press area today.

We've not yet heard from President Trump in-person or on-camera this morning.

At 13:30 EST (18:30 BST), he's scheduled to preside over the swearing-in of Billy Long - the new commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.

At the moment, this is a closed event - although we've previously seen similar events open up to the White House press pool with little warning.

Later on, he'll be at a ceremony signing new cryptocurrency legislation into law. At that event reporters, including from the BBC, will be in the room. There is no guarantee, however, that he'll speak about Epstein.

Epstein, however, is clearly on his mind - making it entirely possible that he will want to address the issue directly.

Image source, Getty Images

Donald Trump has hit out at Rupert Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) after an article from the newspaper reported that the president's name appeared on a "bawdy" 2003 personal note to Epstein.

The note, which the newspaper claims was sent on Epstein's 50th birthday, has been called "fake" by Trump.

Now, in a social media post, Trump writes: "I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his 'pile of garbage' newspaper, the WSJ. That will be an interesting experience!!!"

Trump previously said the newspaper and owner Rupert Murdoch "were warned directly" they would be sued if they printed the story, describing it as "false, malicious, and defamatory".

A former federal prosecutor says Trump's request for the justice department to release court documents relating to the Epstein case is "unusual".

Mitchell Epner, a partner at the New York law firm Kudman Trachten Aloe Posner, says: "I've been in and around federal criminal cases for over 30 years. I've never heard of this before."

While the details and scope of the government's request is unknown, Epner tells the BBC's US partner CBS News that it could encompass an "enormous quantity of data".

Epner adds that material will not be released immediately, he says it is '"likely" it will take months for the court documents to be released.

"I would not be surprised if a number of people came forward under pseudonyms to object to the release of grand jury material related to them," he says.

"I also would not be surprised if some of the victims…came forward and said, 'Yes, we do want things to be revealed.'"

Image source, Getty Images

Yesterday, Vice-President JD Vance said the Wall Street Journal should be "ashamed" for publishing an article alleging that a lewd birthday greeting bearing Donald Trump's name was sent to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.

"The WSJ should be ashamed for publishing it. Where is this letter? Would you be shocked to learn they never showed it to us before publishing it? Does anyone honestly believe this sounds like Donald Trump?" he says on X.

Trump has denied the contents of the WSJ report, saying: "These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don't draw pictures."

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) and FBI have concluded that Epstein had "no incriminating client list" that could implicate high-profile associates.

Their joint review, released on 7 July, comes after speculation spread online that there was a list of Epstein's clients waiting to be released.

Fuel was added to these theories by some comments from prominent members of the Trump administration, after the president pledged in his campaign to declassify Epstein files including the much-anticipated “list”.

Back in February, Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News that she had a list of Epstein’s clients “sitting on my desk right now”. The White House later clarified that she was referring to files relating to Epstein's crimes.

And, before the 2024 US presidential election, Vice-President JD Vance said "we need to release the Epstein list" during an interview with podcaster Theo Von.

The joint review from the DoJ and FBI also said there was "no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions".