How
Jeffrey Epstein sought to help Steve Bannon build a global populist movement
By
Steve
Contorno
Feb 9,
2026
Jeffrey
Epstein’s life as a free man was about to end, but first he needed to cancel
breakfast plans with a friend: Steve Bannon, the right-wing influencer and
former adviser to President Donald Trump.
In the
days leading up to Epstein’s arrest in July 2019, the two men exchanged a
steady stream of text messages, veering from breezy banter and dark humor to
more serious strategizing around Bannon’s efforts to foment a global populist
movement.
Writing
from Paris, Epstein pressed Bannon to rally US support behind a Slovakian
leader seeking a top NATO post. Bannon, meanwhile, wanted Epstein’s help
connecting a close ally in Israel with the country’s former prime minister.
They also traded barbs about the indictment of a British anti-Muslim activist
and made plans to meet the morning of July 7 once Epstein returned from Europe.
The
conversation came to a halt on July 6. After messaging with Bannon that day
about their upcoming rendezvous, Epstein suddenly wrote, “All canceled.” He
sent the message at 7:37 p.m. ET, according to US Department of Justice
records. By then, federal authorities had intercepted Epstein at a New Jersey
airport and arrested the New York financier on charges he sex trafficked
minors.
But for
its abrupt ending, the exchange mirrored hundreds of other text and email
messages between the two men in the Epstein files. The records, released by the
DOJ and House Oversight Committee, reveal a close personal relationship — and
show Epstein’s deep involvement in Bannon’s ambitions on the world stage.
For
years, Bannon has served as a leading voice for the American alt-right, and he
has sought to spread to other countries the movement that helped propel Trump
to the presidency. Until now, his maneuverings abroad, well documented by US
and foreign media, have drawn little speculation that Epstein played any role.
Conspiracy
theories surrounding Epstein — whose body was found in his jail cell while he
was awaiting trial in August 2019, with his death ruled a suicide — have long
animated Bannon’s followers, generally directed at the same elites he regularly
targets and not Bannon himself. Last summer, Bannon joined other MAGA loyalists
in criticizing the Trump administration’s handling of documents related to
Epstein’s crimes. He has been far less vocal, however, about his own
relationship with Epstein.
Bannon
did not return phone calls and text messages from CNN.
Epstein
offered Bannon the same things he extended to many powerful confidantes:
strategic advice, connections to the highest levels of government and business,
and access to his vast wealth. He appeared increasingly invested in Bannon’s
success even as he recognized his own history — Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008
to two state prostitution charges, one involving a child — could complicate
their cause.
“Lets
make sure you are keeping your own path on front burner. Strategy etc.,” he
wrote Bannon in August 2018, before adding: “at the same time. Take no heat re
me. Not worth it for the moment.”
Bannon,
for his part, appeared eager to capitalize on the relationship despite
Epstein’s criminal past. He regularly shared headlines from his efforts abroad
and tapped into Epstein’s extensive network. At one point, he asked Epstein:
“Do u know anyone in Europe that wants to control the European Parliament and
with it the EU.”
In
private exchanges, the two sometimes plotted next steps and workshopped
Bannon’s messaging.
The night
before Bannon was set to appear at a September 2018 forum hosted by The
Economist, Epstein suggested framing for how Bannon should discuss Trump’s
contentious trade wars.
“Brilliant
brilliant brilliant,” Bannon responded, “help me develop that argument.”
‘We have
become friends’
Bannon
appeared on Epstein’s radar after the 2016 election.
In the
days following Trump’s stunning victory, Epstein served as a sounding board to
the rich and powerful. Business leaders across Europe, a senior British
politician, a pair of prominent journalists and a New Age guru all reached out
to Epstein by email, searching for insight into what the outcome would mean for
financial markets, politics and the world order.
“I have
been comforting people all day,” he replied from Paris to a particularly
despondent email. “its going to be better than fine.”
One
acquaintance, however, shared something other than shock — sending Epstein a
2014 interview of Bannon, granted before he became Trump’s campaign manager and
the architect of his improbable win. In it, Bannon had predicted with eerie
precision the populist uprising that would carry Trump to the White House,
forecasting a middle-class revolt, led by right-wing forces, that would soon
upend geopolitics.
Epstein
was introduced to Bannon shortly after the election, the journalist and author
Michael Wolff wrote in his 2019 book, “Siege: Trump Under Fire.” In a passage
Wolff shared with Epstein before publishing, Bannon reportedly told Epstein,
“You were the one person I was truly afraid of coming forward during the
campaign.”
But more
than a year would pass before they connected to export Bannon’s global vision.
Their alignment took shape as both men found themselves on the margins of
Trump’s orbit. Bannon had been pushed out of the White House in August 2017
after serving as a senior adviser, and Epstein’s once-close friendship with
Trump ended in the mid-2000s, according to the president, though they each
owned massive estates on the same barrier island in South Florida.
In early
2018, Wolff shared with Epstein gossip that Bannon was weighing a formal public
break from the president while forming his own nationalist party. Wolff offered
a bullish view on Bannon’s prospects, arguing his platform was “coherent,
rational, and, apparently appealing to a great many people.”
“What
does he have to lose?” Wolff asked.
(Asked
for comment about the email, Wolff didn’t address his remarks and instead
encouraged CNN to read the chapter on Epstein in his 2021 book, “Too Famous,”
which he said “has substantial material about Steve.”)
Over the
next month, Bannon appeared to walk Epstein through his plans for a new
center-right coalition, one that could outlast democratic elections for more
than a decade. Over email, Bannon described his movement as “reverse Alabama” —
“Populist/Nationalist first; Conservative Christians (catholic/evangelical)
next.”
Epstein
was hungry for more details.
“I need
to understand flow of funds,” Epstein said, adding there would be “money needed
for think tank, for ads. for policy meetings.. though (sic) leaders.” He
mentioned cryptocurrency as a potential option and encouraged Bannon to study
the blockchain.
Communications
accelerated from there, and so did their relationship. Epstein helped arrange
travel for Bannon, pestered him to get his blood screened and offered to pay
for his medical expenses.
“We have
become friends,” Epstein confided to a Dubai businessman.
Bannon
was soon making waves in Europe, speaking to packed rooms as he looked to
spread an anti-elite, anti-migrant message. He kept Epstein apprised of his
movements, at one point sharing a news clip with the headline: “German Media
Confess to Underestimating Steve Bannon; He Is ‘As Dangerous as Ever.’”
Epstein
replied: “luv it.”
For his
part, Epstein coached Bannon on how to court Europeans, warning him the
continent “can be a wife not a mistress.”
“If you
are going to play here, you’ll have to spend time, europe by remote doesn’t
work,” he wrote. “Lots and lots of face time and hand holding.”
Epstein
had his own interests abroad, particularly the political future of Slovakian
diplomat Miroslav Lajčák, the president of the United Nations General Assembly
in 2017 and 2018. Lajčák, Epstein told Bannon in an email, would “guide the EU
project if you like him.”
“his govt
will fall this week - as planned,” Epstein wrote in March 2018, punctuating it
with a smiley face.
Lajčák, a
former foreign minister in Slovakia, resigned last month from his position as
an adviser to the Slovakian government after the latest Epstein release,
according to Reuters. Lajčák has denied wrongdoing.
Epstein
also offered to serve as an intermediary with “Kurz,” a likely reference to
then-Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, whose rise was on Epstein’s radar.
Epstein said Kurz was eager to meet Bannon.
As they
moved around the world like pieces on a Risk board, Epstein and Bannon
reflected on their consequential partnership.
“Now you
can understand why trump wakes up in the middle of the night sweating when he
hears you and I are friends,” Epstein once texted Bannon.
He
messaged back: “Dangerous.”
Wins in
Europe, worries at home
By August
2018, Bannon indicated the tide was turning in their favor.
In a text
message to Epstein, he took credit for the fall of the Belgian government (“5
hours after my speech” in Brussels, he noted) and predicted populist and
nationalist groups would soon flex their numbers in Great Britain, France and
elsewhere. He was even hopeful that political allies might win control of the
European Parliament the following spring.
“We can
run the tables here,” Bannon wrote.
Some of
the excitement was justified. In 2019, moderate and establishment parties took
hits across the continent, while nationalist, anti-migrant messengers made
considerable gains. While this broke the coalition between centrist parties at
the European Parliament, far-right groups did not win a majority of seats.
Bannon’s
ties to Epstein grew more problematic during this period. In November 2018, The
Miami Herald started publishing a series of meticulously reported stories by
Julie K. Brown including accounts from dozens of Epstein’s victims and
detailing how he had evaded more serious federal charges. The series gained
national attention, in part because the role a Trump Cabinet official had
played in negotiating the unusual plea deal more than a decade earlier.
“Reminder,”
Epstein wrote Bannon as the spotlight turned back to his legal troubles, “I
fully understand my toxicity for the moment. and I want you to win.”
Meanwhile,
Bannon was increasingly pulled into domestic politics. Republicans had taken a
beating during the midterm elections, and special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s
investigation into Russian election interference was casting a shadow over
Trump’s presidency.
Bannon
told Epstein in May 2019 that Trump’s political operation was in “chaos” with
internal polls predicting an Electoral College landslide against the president.
Epstein
urged his friend to focus on Europe. He appeared concerned about Bannon’s
well-being and encouraged him to get more sleep.
The two
were also working on another project that was eating up their busy schedules: a
potential documentary featuring Epstein. The Justice Department recently
released two hours of video of Epstein speaking with an off-camera interviewer
whose voice resembles Bannon.
Many of
their final emails concern missed chances for them to record more footage,
unaware that a deadline was fast-approaching.
“I am
focused on you WINNING! So no worries,” Epstein wrote on June 11 after one such
failed get-together. “Movement first.”
Less than
a month later, Epstein was in federal custody.
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