Trump, Epstein, and the WWE Ring Boys
As Donald Trump continues to be plagued by his relationship with notorious pedophile Jeffery Epstein, another one of his cabinet members—a former WWE CEO—is haunted by a pedophile scandal of her own.
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Between damning photos, a birthday letter adorned with a nude sketch of a woman, and reports placing his name in a trove of documents related to child sex offender Jeffery Epstein, Donald Trump is enduring what may be the most humiliating week of his presidency.
The renewed scrutiny of Trump and his estranged friend Epstein’s relationship comes after the justice department announced earlier this month that it would not be releasing any additional files related to the Epstein case, despite previous promises from Trump and the US attorney general, Pam Bondi. The administration denied the existence of a so-called “Epstein list”—a client sheet of the elite supposedly implicated in the notorious financier’s sex crimes. This enraged Trump’s own supporters, many of whom accused Trump of being part of a deep-state cover up.
In many way, this is a problem entirely of Trump’s creation. For years, he fuelled conspiracy theories that Epstein’s death in prison while awaiting trial in 2019 may not have been a suicide and that something more nefarious was going on in order to protect the powerful clientele that Epstein partied with on his private island over the decades. He campaigned on releasing the files and vowed to put an end to the so-called cover-up. Then, after reviewing the Epstein files, DOJ attorney general Bondi told Trump his name appeared alongside many others in the documents. Since then, the president has changed his tune.
“Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?” President Trump shot back at a reporter during a Cabinet meeting last week.
As Donald Trump continues to be plagued by his relationship with a notorious pedophile, another one of his cabinet members is also facing renewed scrutiny over a child sex abuse scandal of her own.
Shortly after taking office, Trump nominated former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) CEO Linda McMahon as his Secretary of Education despite her limited educational background and experience. McMahon and her husband Vince—who resigned from the WWE following allegations of sex trafficking and abuse in 2024—were longtime supporters of Trump, with Linda even leading the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term. She later chaired the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-aligned think tank, and co-chaired Trump’s transition team.
McMahon’s appointment to Trump’s administration occurred despite embroiled in a scandal in which WWE employees were recruiting teenage boys for the purpose of sexual exploitation in the 1980s and 90s. One such employee, Melvin Phillips Jr., used his position as ringside announcer to sexually exploit children assigned to setting up and tearing down the wrestling ring (known as ring boys).
The case was revived last year when five John Does who had worked for WWE as young teenagers collectively sued the organization, as well as Vince and Linda McMahon, for negligence, alleging they “knowingly fostered and allowed a culture of sexual misconduct to permeate the WWE.”
The filing alleged Phillips would recruit children to work as “Ring Boys,” helping him set up and take down wrestling rings at WWE events. However, the job was a guise for sexually exploiting the children, which Phillips would do even in front of wrestlers and executives in the locker area, according to the lawsuit.
“Phillips lured and manipulated the young boys with promises of meeting famous wrestlers and attending the highly popular wrestling shows, experiences that were otherwise unattainable for these kids,” the lawsuit alleges.
According to the suit, the McMahons fired Phillips in 1988 after allegations of his sexual exploitation continued to surface. However, he was rehired six weeks later on the condition that he “steer clear of underaged boys…and stop chasing after kids.” The allegations were later reported by the New York Post’s Phil Mushnick as early as 1992.
The only ring boy known to initiate legal action in 1992 was Tom Cole, but he settled with WWE in exchange for a $55,000 settlement and a new job with the company.
The full suit can be read here. (Author’s Note: The lawsuit contains graphic content. Reader discretion is strongly advised.)
While the lawsuit remains ongoing, it did not stop McMahon from being confirmed as Education secretary. In fact, McMahon did not face a single question about the scandal during her confirmation hearing. Instead, Senate Majority Leader John Thune described her as an "accomplished businesswoman and public servant."
Since assuming office, McMahon has complied with Trump’s vision of dismantling the education department and decentralizing education in the US. He signed an executive order in March 2025 that gave McMahon the authority to “facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities.”
McMahon has since continued to do Trump’s bidding, threatening universities with legal action for refusing to ban transgender girls from women’s sports or complying with the Trump administration’s other measures, including abolishing DEI policies. When Columbia University agreed to pay $200 million to the federal government to restore the majority of funding that was cut by the Trump administration over allegations it violated anti-discrimination laws, McMahon called it a “monumental victory for conservatives.”
It is worth noting that Trump has a long association with pro wrestling, especially with the WWE. He hosted two consecutive WrestleManias in the late 1980s and took part in the “Battle of the Billionaires” at WrestleMania XXIII in 2007, which ended with Trump, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Bobby Lashley shaving the head of disgraced wrestling magnate Vince McMahon. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and maintains a strong relationship with the organization’s leadership.
Trump’s association with the WWE had played a significant role in shaping his political persona, including his flair for showmanship and his adversarial “heel” approach to diplomacy. His pro wrestling style has drawn figures like Hulk Hogan—a legendary wrestler and a racist bigot—to speak on his behalf at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee days after Trump had been shot in the right ear by a sniper.
Nevertheless, the convergence of these sex abuse scandals raises urgent questions about the ecosystem of influence and power that surrounds men like Trump. If Epstein revealed the elite’s capacity to normalize predation, the WWE ring boy case showed how easily abuse can be swept under the mat.
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