Washington (United States) (AFP) – US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick admitted Tuesday to having lunch in 2012 with sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein on his private island after maintaining that he had cut ties well before, Donald Trump retaining his full support according to the White House.
Published on: 02/10/2026 - 10:55 p.m.
Elected officials from all sides have been calling for the minister's resignation since documents from the Epstein file published on January 30 contradict his assertions that he broke off all contact with the financier two decades ago.
Among the more than three million documents linked to the sex criminal made public by the Justice Department is a plan by Howard Lutnick to travel to Little Saint James, the private island of Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking of minors.
“I had lunch with him on the island, while I was spending a family vacation on a boat. My wife was with me, as well as my four children and their nannies,” he admitted before the US Senate, adding that the visit lasted an hour.
Despite these declarations, the American president "totally supports" his minister, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt assured Tuesday, assuring that he "remains a very important member of the government team."
Several personalities have found themselves in the spotlight for having gone to “Epstein Island”, in the American Virgin Islands, where prosecutors accuse Jeffrey Epstein of having brought underage girls for the purpose of sex trafficking.
Another document mentions a lunch between the two men in New York in 2011, which Howard Lutnick denied.
“Like everyone else, I searched for my name in the millions of published documents,” he said, adding that his name appeared in “around ten emails” at most.
Shock wave
"I've barely seen this person in 14 years," he insisted, referring to a period beginning in 2005. At the time, according to Howard Lutnick, the two financiers had moved into the same area of New York.
This does not prevent elected Republicans and Democrats alike from demanding his resignation.
Democrat Robert Garcia accused the minister of having “lied about his relationship with Epstein.” “He said he had no interaction with Epstein after 2005, but we now know they did business together,” he said, after the publication of documents revealing that the two men had once been co-investors in a company.
Republican elected official Thomas Massie ruled on Sunday that the Commerce Secretary "should make life easier for the president and simply resign."
“Mr. Lutnick should not be in charge of our Commerce Department, he must resign immediately,” Democratic Senator Adam Schiff added on Monday.
If the simple mention of a person's name in the Epstein file does not imply reprehensible action a priori, many personalities are feeling the shock of these revelations, in the United States and beyond.
Formerly close to the Democratic Party, Howard Lutnick is a long-time friend of the Trump family.
He was among the main donors to Donald Trump and headed the transition team after the Republican's victory in November 2024, before being named Secretary of Commerce in January 2025.
© 2026 AFP
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