Claim:
Mark Epstein, brother of convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, once sent his brother an email that suggested he ask former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon “if Putin has the photos of Trump blowing Bubba.”
Rating:
The internet ran wild with speculation about U.S. President Donald Trump’s relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein following the release of more than 20,000 documents from the Epstein estate by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Nov. 12, 2025.
The chatter included a notable amount of discussion over one email in particular, which allegedly showed an exchange between Epstein and his brother, real estate developer Mark Epstein.
According to social media users, particularly on X (archived, archived, archived), Mark Epstein purportedly asked his brother to inquire with a former White House adviser whether “Putin has the photos of Trump blowing Bubba.” In this usage, “blowing” is a reference to oral sex.
Speculation as to the identity of the so-called “Bubba” added to the fervor over the message.
The email between the brothers Epstein was authentic, confirmed by Snopes’ independent review of the Epstein documents released by the committee.
The email in question is labeled as “HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_030719,” which matches its label in the files released by the committee.
Below is the full context of the emails, reproduced in the order in which they were sent (emphasis ours):
March 19, 2018
MARK EPSTEIN: How are you doing? A while back you mentioned that you were prediabetic. Has anything changed with that? What is your boy Donald up to now?
JEFFREY EPSTEIN: All good. Bannon with me
March 21, 2018
MARK EPSTEIN: Ask him if Putin has the photos of Trump blowing Bubba?
JEFFREY EPSTEIN: and i thought- I had tsuris
MARK EPSTEIN: You and your boy Donnie can make a remake of the movie Get Hard.
JEFFREY EPSTEIN: you mean DONNI TEE
MARK EPSTEIN: I’d rather be in Donni Dee’s shoes.
The email between the brothers, along with thousands of other documents released from the Epstein estate, can be viewed in a Google folder provided by the committee in its news release or can be read below.
(House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform)
The “Bannon” referred to in the email appeared to be former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, who was fired from his post in August 2017, about eight months before the email exchange in question. “Putin” is Vladimir Putin, president of Russia.
Merriam-Webster defined the word “tsuris” as meaning “trouble” or “distress,” originating from Yiddish.
“Get Hard” was a 2015 comedy film starring Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart in which an accused white collar criminal (Ferrell) seeks advice from a man he assumes is an ex-con (Hart) about how to survive prison, not knowing the latter has no experience being incarcerated.
Some Snopes readers and social media users speculated as to who “Bubba” might be referring to. Some suggested former President Bill Clinton, but Snopes has been unable to verify this. It was also unclear whether the message was in jest.
According to reporting by The Advocate, Mark Epstein issued a statement addressing the rumors regarding “Bubba” referring to Clinton. Epstein told the outlet, “the reference to ‘Bubba’ in this correspondence is not, in any way, a reference to former President Bill Clinton.”
Further, he insisted the emails “were simply part of a humorous private exchange between two brothers and were never meant for public release or to be interpreted as serious remarks,” The Advocate reported.
For further reading about the Nov. 12, 2025, release of documents from Epstein’s estate, check out Snopes’ reporting on the Epstein emails thus far.
Sources
Definition of TSURIS. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tsuris. Accessed 14 Nov. 2025.
“Donald Trump ‘Blowing Bubba’ Message in Epstein Emails under Scrutiny.” Newsweek, 14 Nov. 2025, https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-blowing-bubba-message-epstein-emails-under-scrutiny-11046836.
“Epstein Email Says Trump ‘knew about the Girls’ as White House Calls Its Release a Democratic Smear.” AP News, 12 Nov. 2025, https://apnews.com/article/epstein-emails-trump-house-democrats-db7df1042a73e610fb5deddf2f90bd3a.
“Get Hard.” Wikipedia, 27 Oct. 2025. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Get_Hard&oldid=1319074060.
“HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_030719.Jpg.” Google Docs, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uwNMpHu1vvTFQ-r5Ua3b0TRqYu4F-v_B/view?usp=embed_facebook. Accessed 14 Nov. 2025.
Landers, Jeremy Diamond, Kaitlan Collins,Elizabeth. “Trump’s Chief Strategist Steve Bannon Fired | CNN Politics.” CNN, 18 Aug. 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/18/politics/steve-bannon-white-house.
“Mark Epstein (Property Developer).” Wikipedia, 12 Nov. 2025. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mark_Epstein_(property_developer)&oldid=1321826066.
“Oversight Committee Releases Additional Epstein Estate Documents.” United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 12 Nov. 2025, https://oversight.house.gov/release/oversight-committee-releases-additional-epstein-estate-documents/.
