Epstein Emails Reveal He Called Trump the "Dog That Hasn't Barked" — What Does That Mean?
"I want you to realize that that dog that hasn't barked is Trump."
Published Nov. 12 2025, 1:07 p.m. ET
House Democrats released scathing emails from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and the late billionaire's references to Donald Trump indicate that he was aware of the businessman's alleged sex trafficking of young girls and took part in the illegal activities.
According to ABC News, Epstein sent an email to his ex-girlfriend and accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, back in 2011 that noted Trump's name "has never once been mentioned" by the police during the investigation.
"I want you to realize that that dog that hasn't barked is trump," he wrote. "[VICTIM] spent hours at my house with him. he has never once been mentioned. police chief etc im 75 % there."
The emails said even more to imply Trump knew and indulged in Epstein's pedophilia and sex trafficking activity, and folks want to know what the meaning of the "dog that hasn't barked" is.
What is the meaning of the "dog that hasn't barked"?
According to the University of Chicago, the phrase "the dog that hasn't barked" was in a Sherlock Holmes mystery novel by Arthur Conan Doyle. It refers to Detective Holmes noting that a guard dog didn't bark during a crime where one would expect it to, therefore, the dog's owner is the criminal.
The phrase in reference to Trump insinuates that the president was keeping quiet because he knew of the crimes and/or is guilty of the same. Maxwell responded to Epstein's email and wrote, "I have been thinking about that."
What else did Epstein's emails say?
In another email from Epstein to author Michael Wolff, the billionaire claimed that Trump specifically referenced young girls and had asked Epstein to resign his membership at Mar-a-Lago.
"Trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever," he wrote. "Of course he knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop."
Epstein died in prison of an alleged suicide by hanging back in 2019. The billionaire was awaiting his trial for sex trafficking minors at the time of his death. Maxwell, his ex and accomplice, is serving a 20-year prison term for her role in Epstein's sex trafficking crimes.
Trump denied the accusations that he was involved in Epstein's sex trafficking and wrote a lengthy, delusional message on Truth Social in 2025 that accused Democrats of being the "Lunatic Left" and making "bulls--t" claims.
"Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this 'bulls--t,' hook, line, and sinker,” he wrote, in part. "I have had more success in 6 months than perhaps any President in our Country’s history, and all these people want to talk about, with strong prodding by the Fake News and the success starved Dems, is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC News that House Democrats "selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump."
"These stories are nothing more than bad-faith efforts to distract from President Trump’s historic accomplishments," she said. "And any American with common sense sees right through this hoax and clear distraction from the government opening back up again.”