Steve Bannon Offered Trump’s MAGA as Shield for Jeffrey Epstein

Jeffrey Epstein – long portrayed by the Republican right as part of a deep state liberal conspiracy – was providing strategic, financial and media support to the very heart of Trump’s MAGA movement, working directly with Steve Bannon on political planning in Europe and US campaign messaging from 2018 to 2019. The payoff would be a movement that neutralised the #MeToo campaign against sexual harassment in the workplace.

For years, Bannon – the architect of MAGA, Trump’s first campaign manager and former White House chief strategist – has used his War Room podcast to promote QAnon conspiracy theories about the Democrat Party as a cabal of child molesters. 

He once described QAnon as “the elephant in the room”; had Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene on his show calling Democrats “the party of paedophiles”; and urged listeners to call their senators and oppose the confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson by relaying “your unexpurgated opinion on what you think of Judge Jackson in this area of child torture, child rape, baby torture, and baby rape.”

Yet the new emails released by the House Oversight Committee, reviewed by Byline Times reveal that in contrast, Steve Bannon had worked closely with Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier and convicted sex offender accused of operating a vast international sex trafficking ring involving underage girls. 

---

Resisting #MeToo

Epstein offered potential financial support to Bannon through opaque cryptocurrency schemes designed to evade regulatory scrutiny, along with extensive political networks, strategic planning and routes to European leaders – not to mention advice on pro-Trump video campaign materials. 

In return, Bannon offered Epstein something irresistible: to build a right-wing MAGA coalition that would “stave off” the global movement against sexual harassment for more than a decade.

Earlier this year, Steve Bannon repeatedly claimed that the convicted child sex offender was operating as part of a deep state anti-Trump conspiracy. “In that arc of looking at how the deep state has tried to stop Trump and the MAGA movement, you can easily fit in,” Bannon told a crowd at a Turning Point US conference in July.

“Epstein is a key that picks the lock on so many things,” he said. “Not just individuals, but also institutions. Intelligence institutions, foreign governments, and who was working with him on our intelligence apparatus and in our government.” 

However, newly released emails now show Jeffrey Epstein acting as an intimate political fixer for Steve Bannon himself between 2018 and 2019.

Over this period, Epstein arranged access to world leaders for Bannon, proposing opaque crypto-based funding structures, drafting contact lists for the MAGA architect, and even offering the President of the UN General Assembly to guide Bannon’s “EU project.”

In return, Bannon fed Epstein ideological strategy, media plans and internal Republican thinking – at one point spelling out a right-wing coalition to “stave off Time’s Up for next decade plus”.

The correspondence also shows Epstein helping to shape Bannon’s public image. In one message, he tells journalist Michael Wolff that if Republicans held the House in 2018, “Steve would deserve most of the credit”, while Bannon privately reassured Epstein during renewed scrutiny that “there is a crazed jihad against u”. 

The emails reveal a political partnership across these two years in which MAGA’s architect worked hand-in-hand with a convicted sex offender – contradicting everything Bannon has since claimed about Epstein and the so-called “cover-up”.

---

Undisclosed Meetings

Although it is known that Steve Bannon and Jeffrey Epstein had several meetings that year through to early 2019 to provide him with media coaching, the extent of their relationship has remained opaque until now. 

Byline Times can confirm that the newly released batch of Epstein emails includes at least 45 pieces of correspondence directly with Steve Bannon.

At 8:08 pm on 11 March 2018, Sean Bannon – aide and nephew to Steve – sends Jeffrey Epstein a brief message from his iPhone:

“Roger that. Thanks for having us today.”

The email appears to confirm that both Steve and Sean Bannon had met Epstein in person that afternoon. Epstein replied that same evening. His tone was brisk, confident, and already looking ahead:

“Spoke to [the] country leader we discussed… I leave Wednesday, back Friday. We should lay out a strategy plan when I’m back. Travel safe.”

This was not their first contact. In another message from the same period, Epstein’s brother Mark drops an almost throwaway line into an email to Jeffrey:

“Bannon with me.”

No elaboration – just the plain fact that Steve Bannon was present with Mark Epstein days after the previous meeting with Jeffrey. Meanwhile, within their circle, the outside world had begun to notice. In an earlier forwarded email, a friend sends Epstein a tabloid item with the headline:

“Steve Bannon had morning with disgraced Jeffrey Epstein.”

He adds only:

“Great picture of you!!!”

The weeks around the March meeting reveal that Steve Bannon and Jeffrey Epstein were already speaking the same political language, exchanging ideas and intelligence in a way that makes the townhouse meeting feel less like a beginning and more like an escalation.

---

A Hidden Working Relationship 

An early signal appears on 24 February 2018, in a chain that starts with a Politico link but rapidly veers into the architecture of a political movement. Epstein opens with a technical query:

“coin issues: receive coins, distribute coins, pay in coins, coin cooperative, prohibitions foreign donor? i need to understand flow of funds… donor to campaign c’s. does it have to go to campaign first?”

It is a remarkable set of questions pointing straight at the rules governing political finance. Epstein is not dabbling – he is asking how to build an alternative funding system. Bannon replies without hesitation:

“On it.”

Minutes later, Epstein presses further:

“should it have a christian component? tithe? if you form a church you may be able to tell mueller you have a confession privelege. :)”

Even allowing for gallows humour, the suggestion is extraordinary: create a religious entity that could invoke clergy-penitent privilege to shield communications from the special counsel criminal investigation into Donald Trump regarding Russian interference in the 2016 elections, led by then FBI director Robert Mueller.

Bannon’s response outlines the coalition he believes can power the next decade of right-wing politics:

“Populist/Nationalist first.
Conservative Christians (catholic/evangelical) next.
Reverse Alabama.
This coalition staves off ‘Times Up’ for next decade plus.”

“Time’s Up” was a movement originating Hollywood designed to hold powerful men accountable for sexual abuse and misconduct. By September that year, Bannon publicly positioned himself as a supporter, describing Time’s Up as “the single most powerful potential political movement in the world” at festival in New York, and wondering why the #MeToo movement “hasn’t cut through corporate America with a bigger scythe”.

But earlier that year, Bannon wrote directly to Epstein – arguably the most notorious sexual predator in American public life even at that time – explaining how together, they can build a pro-Trump MAGA coalition that can neutralise the movement for the “next decade plus”.

The email chain continues on financial operations. Epstein asks:

“is there a super smart FEC person?”

Bannon provides one:

“I think I have the most solid guy on the right – tied into the ‘swiss’ guys – named Jeffrey Wernick… he can walk u thru the deal.”

Epstein then asks:

“do you have coin guys. brocks people. or should we find? some of the lefty crypto guys might find it difficult to join, but they said bringing tech to discourse is on a higher plane.”

While blockchain evangelist Jeffrey Wernick’s involvement in helping Bannon explore a crypto project for the populist right is a matter of record, Epstein’s secret proximity to Bannon’s efforts is revealed here for the first time.

These messages make clear that Epstein and Bannon were jointly exploring a crypto-political financing network for this emerging trans-Atlantic MAGA movement, including foreign-donor questions, campaign bypasses, and legal shields.

And then the discussion widens. Epstein sends:

“BTW spent some time on the phone with Jide. he’s looking to be read into Saudi. too early.”

Jide Zeitlin – a former Goldman Sachs partner with access to world leaders – is being discussed as though he is part of the same operational landscape Epstein and Bannon are navigating. Bannon replies:

“Yes… I’ve got the 2nd best – best is Don McGahn who is occupied currently.”

Don McGahn, at that moment, is the sitting White House Counsel in the Trump administration. At face value, these exchanges are the behaviour of two actors building a political machine: one (Epstein) probing funding and legal structures, the other (Bannon) offering to supply operatives and strategic doctrine. Whether and what meetings they resulted in, Byline Times cannot confirm.

The tone continues into March. The thread that leads to the townhouse dinner on 15 March 2018 is, if anything, even more explicit. Epstein opens:

“yes I saw it. 1. I will invite Gerry Baker to our dinner tonight. 2. Miro Lajcak, president of UN, will guide the EU project if you like him. his govt will fall this week — as planned. :) 3. later today we can discuss michael and his coins. 4. sultan — dubai in new york 21 22.”

In this extraordinary email, Epstein is not only inviting the then editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal, Gerald Baker, he also offers up the sitting President of the United Nations General Assembly (Miroslav Lajčák), claims foreknowledge of the collapse of the Slovakian government, references “Michael and his coins” – tying directly back to the crypto-funding exchanges – and flags the visit of a Gulf actor. 

Baker has written publicly about Epstein sending him invitations to meetings, which he says he stringently refused. Epstein is known to have been both extraordinarily well-connected and to be more than willing to inflate his connections in communication with people he wanted to reach.

Bannon replies:

“What time is dinner? Do u want me to come over beforehand???”

The meaning is unmistakable. This is logistics for a high-level political meeting, not a social evening. 

---

Epstein – Bannon’s Strategic and Operational Partner

The deeper one goes into the correspondence, the clearer Epstein’s position becomes. He speaks like a fixer – a man who still believes he can move governments, pull networks together, and put the right people in the right rooms. And Bannon receives him that way.

Just weeks after their March dinner, Epstein is already advising Bannon on the realities of building a political empire in Europe. In a message sent in the early hours of 23 July 2018, he writes from Europe:

“If you are going to play here, you’ll have to spend time, Europe by remote doesn’t work. Lots and lots of face time and hand holding.”

It is the voice of someone warning a client about the terrain he is entering. Hours later, he expands the point:

“There are many leaders of countries we can organise for you to have one-on-ones. however… you will have to come, stay 8-10 days… The fear is that you gin up their hopes and emotions and then abandon them. I think you want to be an insider, not an outsider flying in and out.”

The phrase “whatever is good for you – I’m in”, which Epstein sends later that day, lands like a pledge of loyalty:

“I am unaware of your playbook. however, whatever is good for you – Im in.”

The confidence that runs through his messages comes from somewhere – and the surrounding emails show where. Epstein is not just offering encouragement; he is offering people: diplomats, foreign leaders, sovereign wealth figures, tech financiers, media editors.

On 3 May 2018, he forwards Bannon one of the most extraordinary exchanges in the archive, again involving Jide Zeitlin. Epstein gives Bannon a one-line introduction:

“fyi.”

Then follows Zeitlin’s report of his failed attempt to meet Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the chairman of Dubai World / DP World, one of the largest port operators on the planet:

“Unfortunately, bin Sulayem and I did not meet. I was stuck at the White House and he had a narrow window before heading to Cyprus.”

Zeitlin then describes discussing port strategy with Nigeria’s trade minister:

“Okey Enelamah… stopped by my home this evening as he was still in town after Buhari’s visit with Trump.”

He adds, casually:

“Separately, I spoke earlier with the Vice President.”

Epstein’s network appears to include senior White House access, Gulf sovereign wealth leadership, African trade ministers fresh from meetings with the Trump administration. All packaged up by Epstein for Steve Bannon. By mid-2019, Epstein sends himself a document that reads like a fever dream of elite names, all poured into a single message with a subject line that reveals its purpose:

“list for bannon steve”

What follows is a continuous stream – politicians (Mitchell, Clinton, Richardson), oligarchs, Nobel-calibre scientists (E.O. Wilson, Brian Greene), tech billionaires (Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman), editors (Sulzberger), bankers (Jes Staley), diplomats (Jagland), former prime ministers (Barak), celebrities (Woody Allen), royalty (“queen, pres, king, pm”), and intelligence-linked figures.

Epstein appears to be assembling an inventory of relationships – people he can call, connect, or weaponise – specifically to support Bannon in his efforts to build a MAGA coalition that can neutralise scrutiny of offenders like Epstein. It strongly suggests that Epstein saw himself as part of Bannon’s project, and that he intended Bannon to draw on the full breadth of his network.

---

Supporting Bannon’s Pro-Trump Campaigning 

This dynamic carries straight into the summer of 2018, when the mid-term campaign begins to peak and Bannon is preoccupied with the release of his political documentary Trump@War, a film designed to energise Republican voters. The emails show Epstein was an insider to the production, not an observer. Epstein asks Bannon:

“did you get the first cut of American Carnage?”

A few hours later, Bannon writes back with his assessment:

“American Carnage amazing – An Emmanuel financed it and he loves it – Eroll’s besties tell him it will end his career because he gave a platform to a monster… Officially in Venice, Toronto and New York Film Festival.”

It is a revealing moment. Bannon is giving Epstein the details because Epstein is part of the process. The point is confirmed in a second thread that same month, when Bannon asks his aide Sean:

“Can we get Jeffrey latest version of film”

Sean replies:

“Just sent to you from my ProtonMail ;)”.

Epstein is no longer just receiving geopolitical gossip, but actively previewing Bannon’s propaganda films – being given cuts, and his feedback being solicited. He is inside the political machine that will be rolled out across the United States in the run-up to November.

---

‘Crazed Jihad’ Against Epstein

And Epstein wants Bannon credited for his pro-Trump efforts. That becomes evident months later, when journalist Michael Wolff writes to Epstein on 5 November 2018, outlining his plan to feature both men in his next book:

“I was thinking of opening with you and Bannon talking about Trump… would let you sound smart and offer… a crowd-pleasing perspective, and make you seem like a credible player – former friend of Trump, adviser to world leaders, sought after person…”

A prominent journalist is proposing to cast Epstein as a statesmanlike figure – someone authoritative on global affairs and on Trump. Epstein’s earlier email in this thread exposes the full scope of their political entanglement:

“if the republicans pull this off, steve would deserve most of the credit. he was way out in front on this….”

It is crucial to recall that all of this is playing out while public scrutiny of Epstein is accelerating in the form of civil suits and journalistic investigations. During this period when most public figures distanced themselves, Bannon writes to Epstein:

“there is a crazed jihad against u – ive never seen anything like it – and I’ve seen a lot.”

Steve Bannon has sought to recast himself as the man sounding the alarm about a liberal Epstein “cover-up”, insisting that the real scandal lies in the hidden networks Epstein built among Democrats, financiers and “globalists”. On his broadcasts, he has spoken in apocalyptic tones about dark elites and state complicity. 

The newly released emails make that position untenable. Taken together, the 45 emails collapse the distance between two public myths. The myth of Epstein as a creature of the liberal elite, and the myth of Bannon as the man exposing him. In their place emerges a private record that is far more revealing. They show how a convicted sex offender and a self-styled populist strategist – the very architect of the MAGA movement – worked together in the shadows, swapping contacts, advice, political intelligence and favours, while hiding the relationship from the very public whose anger they sought to mobilise.

Steve Bannon was contacted for comment.