(José Niño, Headline USA) In December 2018, Jeffrey Epstein sent a series of private messages predicting that Donald Trump would bomb Iran if he ever felt politically cornered. Seven years later, Trump did exactly that.
The messages, recovered from Epstein’s MacBook and released by the DOJ as part of the Epstein Files Transparency Act disclosures in Dataset 9, were sent on December 20, 2018, per a report by International Business Times UK. That was the same day Trump stunned the Pentagon and Congress by announcing a sudden withdrawal of American forces from Syria.
Over the span of roughly 40 minutes, Epstein laid out his theory to an unidentified contact. He opened by writing that “Trump pulling troops out of syria, is a bad sign. He is up to something. And it’s not good.” He called it “step one” and said Trump needed “a large diversion.”
Messages from the Epstein files saying if he’s “cornered like a rat” he would begin a global conflict by bombing Iran. pic.twitter.com/RiOkmFK9Xc
— Dissident Media (@DissidentMedia) March 1, 2026
Minutes later he escalated. “You guys need to understand that he is psychotic. And would not blink twice at encouraging an attack on us. So he can leap to the country’s defense… mindset. If I go down I’m taking everyone with.” Forty seconds after that he added, “Cornering a rat, never a good idea.”
Then came the Iran prediction. “We only had 2k troops there, if he were to bomb Iran, they would be slaughtered,” Epstein wrote, explaining the troop withdrawal as a precursor. The contact replied, “Oh! That would be crazy!!” Epstein answered simply, “Not from his perspective.”
The identity of the other party remains officially redacted, according to Justice Department disclosures. However, the identity of the other party in the exchange remains unknown. IBTimes UK reported that the redacted contact was on Red Square in Moscow that day, referenced “dinner with minister for economy tonight” and appeared to have recently received information from the White House that contradicted Trump’s public moves.
At the time Epstein sent these messages, Robert Mueller’s investigation had already secured guilty pleas from Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort. Epstein himself held no government role and was living under the terms of his contested 2008 nonprosecution agreement from Florida.
The messages went massively viral late last month after Trump authorized military strikes on Iran during the same period that the Epstein file releases were dominating public attention. Critics including Congressman Jamie Raskin accused Trump of using the strikes as a deliberate distraction. MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas dubbed the operation the “Jeffrey Epstein War,” arguing Trump followed the exact playbook Epstein had described.
Headline USA previously reported that hacked emails from former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, obtained by the Iranian hacker group Handala and reported by Drop Site News, show Epstein advising Barak between 2013 and 2016 on messaging to the Kremlin about Syria and Iran, including language about chemical weapons and Iran’s nuclear program that commentators say closely mirrors the justification used for the 2026 strikes.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
