Bernice King told Trump to release Epstein files?

Following the July 2025 release of FBI files on the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., social media posts online claimed King's daughter Bernice King criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for releasing her father's files before those related to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Earlier in the month, Trump's Justice Department said Epstein — who died by suicide in jail following his 2019 arrest on sex-trafficking charges in 2019 — did not keep a client list, contrary to persistent rumors. The department also said it would not release more files related to the investigation, despite previously saying it would, leading social media users to post about the ties between Trump and Epstein.

On July 21, the X account Republicans against Trump posted a screenshot (archived) purportedly showing a post from Bernice King that read, "Now, do the Epstein files." That post, which was liked more than 12,000 times, was then screenshotted and shared to Reddit (archived), where it received more than 7,500 upvotes. 

This was indeed a real screenshot of an X post (archived) by Bernice King, so the claim is true. She made the post a few hours after the Trump administration announced it was releasing her father's files.

Prior to making the post referencing Epstein, King posted some of her thoughts about the release of her father's files and was critical of the decision to release them.

"I am, honestly, not prepared to revisit the gruesome details of this painful history," King told Vanity Fair and shared on X. "For me, there is no real value in it; there is only reliving the trauma."

According to The New York Times, historians have thus far found little of note in the released files regarding King's assassination.