J.D. Vance Urged Tucker Carlson to Interview Ghislaine Maxwell for White House PR Campaign in Tense Situation Room Meeting, New Book Claims

Vice President J.D. Vance allegedly floated the idea of a sit-down interview between Jeffrey Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell and Fox News' Tucker Carlson during a tense Situation Room meeting last year focused on the handling of the Epstein files.

Senior Trump Administration officials, including Vance, 41, then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, press secretary Karoline Leavitt and communications director Steven Cheung, met on July 17, 2025, to discuss mounting pressure to release files related to the convicted s-- offender and the fall out from President Donald Trump's former friendly relationship with him, according to an except from the book Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump shared by The New York Times.

Then-Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel reportedly joined the meeting by phone.

"This is a huge problem," Vance said to the table, according to the book.

The vice president reportedly floated the idea of using Maxwell, 64, who is serving a prison sentence for the s-- trafficking of minors, as part of a White House PR "gambit." He allegedly suggested she appear on Carlson's popular podcast in the hopes that she would publicly state that Trump, 79, was not involved in any wrongdoing related to Epstein.

Vance believed the interview would help the current administration amid calls for transparency regarding Trump's ties to Epstein.

According to the book, Blanche, 51, offered to conduct the interview himself.

Vance also reportedly pushed for the voluntary release of all Epstein-related files as quickly as possible, aiming to get ahead of congressional efforts to force their disclosure – a move that ultimately materialized in November 2025.

White House counsel David Warrington reportedly outlined options available to Trump, who was not in attendance, including granting Maxwell a sentence reduction or pardon.

Maxwell was interviewed by Blanche nearly a month after the Situation Room meeting on August 22.

During the two-day interview, Maxwell repeatedly showered Trump with praise and denied questioning that she saw him engaging in any form of sexual behavior.

Trump and Epstein's friendship is known to go as far back as 1987, with the two being neighbors in Palm Beach, Fla. The disgraced financier was also a guest at Trump's 1993 wedding to Marla Maples.

"I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with," Trump told New York magazine in 2002. "It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life."

Their relationship reportedly took a turn for the worse in 2004 over a high-stakes Palm Beach real estate deal worth tens of millions of dollars.