A striking new poll suggests the Epstein story is far from fading. According to the results, 71% of Americans believe President Donald Trump knew about Jeffrey Epstein’s sex crimes against underage girls, and a large plurality say they think he was “involved in” those crimes.
It has been more than a year since Trump’s Justice Department insisted there was no client list and no meaningful “Epstein Files” to release, a claim that landed with a thud for many who expected more transparency. Each time public attention starts to drift, something new seems to pull the story back into the spotlight and revive questions about Trump’s past relationship with Epstein.
Now the focus is on the ongoing failure of Trump’s Justice Department to meet its own deadline for releasing all related files. That delay alone has kept the issue in the headlines and fueled even more skepticism.
The controversy followed Trump onto the campaign trail this week. While touring a Ford plant before speaking to the Detroit Economic Club on Tuesday, Trump flipped off a heckler who shouted that he was a “pedophile protector.” The heckler, identified as 40 year old TJ Sabula, was later suspended from his job after the incident.
The poll itself comes from YouGov and was conducted between January 13 and January 15, 2026. Participants were asked, “Before investigations into Jeffrey Epstein began, how much do you think the following people knew about sex crimes committed by Epstein against underage girls?” Seventy one percent said they believed Trump did know. That group included a 53 percent majority of Trump voters, showing the belief cuts across party lines. Those numbers closely track the findings of an earlier YouGov and The Economist poll taken over the summer.
The newer poll went a step further and asked another direct question. “Do you think that the following people were involved in crimes allegedly committed by Jeffrey Epstein?” That question was asked about Trump, former President Bill Clinton, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, broadening the lens to other high profile figures who have long faced public speculation because of their connections to Epstein.
Together, the results paint a picture of deep public mistrust and lingering suspicion. For many Americans, the combination of unanswered questions, delayed disclosures, and the history of elite connections around Epstein continues to raise red flags. As long as files remain unreleased and timelines remain murky, it is clear this story is not going away anytime soon.