Donald Trump signs Epstein files bill into law, triggering 30-day deadline for document release

US President Donald Trump has signed off on legislation to force the release of the "Epstein files" — the final step required to turn the bill into law.

It means the US Department of Justice now has a 30-day deadline to release all unclassified documents about its investigation into late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Mr Trump had opposed the legislation for months, describing the push to release the documents as a "Democrat hoax".

But over the weekend, after it became clear the bill had the support of a majority of members of the US House of Representatives, he flipped and urged Republicans to support it.

The bill was approved by both houses of the US Congress on Tuesday, US time.

In a social media post announcing he had signed the bill, Mr Trump repeated his previous claims that the files could prove damaging to several Democratic figures.

"Democrats have used the 'Epstein' issue, which affects them far more than the Republican Party, in order to try and distract from our AMAZING Victories," he wrote on Truth Social.

"Perhaps the truth about these Democrats, and their associations with Jeffrey Epstein, will soon be revealed, because I HAVE JUST SIGNED THE BILL TO RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES!"

The bill received near-unanimous support in the House of Representatives and was backed by all senators.

Just one member of Congress, Republican Clay Higgins, voted against it.

But some, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, raised concerns that the bill compelled the release of too much information and innocent people could be implicated.

He called on the Senate to amend the bill, but senators agreed to pass it by "unanimous consent", removing the opportunity to debate it or make changes.

Before Mr Trump signed the bill, Attorney-General Pam Bondi was asked about the next steps towards releasing the files.

Ms Bondi, who leads the Department of Justice, did not give specific details.

"We will follow the law," she said.

"The law passed both chambers last evening, it has not yet been signed, but we will continue to follow the law, again, while protecting victims but also providing maximum transparency."

Bill signed into law after sailing through Congress

The bill's passage through Congress was applauded by some of the survivors of Epstein and his co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year jail sentence for trafficking.

Survivor groups have long been lobbying for the release of the files, saying there are unanswered questions about other powerful figures connected to Epstein and Maxwell.

Mr Trump initially opposed the legislation, and it led to a major fallout with one of its Republican backers, his longtime ally Marjorie Taylor Greene.

At the weekend, after the White House failed to persuade some of the bill's supporters to back down, Mr Trump told Republicans to vote for it, but urged them not to allow it to distract from other issues.

He has also been describing the files as a "Democrat problem" and pointed to people like former Treasury secretary Larry Summers, who was in friendly contact with Epstein after he was charged with sex offences.

Mr Summers abruptly went on leave on Wednesday, local time, from teaching at Harvard University, over the recently released emails, his spokesperson said.  

The former Harvard University president had been retreating from his public commitments amid the fallout of the emails revelation, but he had maintained that he would continue teaching economics classes at Harvard.

But by Wednesday evening, Mr Summers had not only retreated from teaching classes but also as director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government with the Kennedy Harvard School.

"Mr Summers has decided it's in the best interest of the centre for him to go on leave from his role as director as Harvard undertakes its review," spokesperson Steven Goldberg said.

"He [Mr Summers] is not scheduled to teach next semester."