In what was a totally unrelated development, The Washington Post claims to have dialled the White House‘s number for a question about First Lady Melania Trump. However, once the call connected, the US news outlet’s Style section found their phone playing mind games, indicating they had called the “Epstein Island” instead.
“It was not a wrong number,” The Washington Post stated in the article entitled “Post reporters called the White House. Their phones showed ‘Epstein Island'” on Friday (US time). “That’s what the phone displayed when some Washington Post journalists called the White House switchboard.”
Netizens couldn’t help but troll the development because its timing aligned with the Iran-linked Handala group hacking FBI Director Kash Patel’s email inbox. Although both incidents were unrelated, social media users mercilessly joked about how things were unfolding with the Trump administration this week.
Why did the White House number display ‘Epstein Island’?
As Google has now confirmed to The Post, the erroneous phone ID display was attributed to a Google Maps error, which resulted in the White House being labelled as “Epstein Island” on some Android phones. Google has since reversed the edit, and the White House blamed the incident on an external issue that had nothing to do with it.
The Washington Post reported that those witnessing the incorrect label were using Android phones from Google’s Pixel brand. When the outlet called the White House using iPhones, the screen showed no name.
The Post called the White House. But the name attached to the number read “Epstein Island.”
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 27, 2026
A Google Maps error labeled the White House as “Epstein Island” on some Android phones. Google reversed the edit and the White House said it was an external issue. https://t.co/7CR4NynCGu
In light of the ironic discovery, The Post notified Google about the phone ID display. Company spokesman Matthew Flegal said they had narrowed the blunder down to what was being referred to as a “fake edit” in Google Maps. It was “briefly” picked up in the call identification feature of some Android phones.
As cited by The Post, Flegal said the issue was ultimately reversed as it violated Google’s policies. Additionally, the spokesman told the US outlet that the user responsible was blocked from making further edits.
What did the White House say?
A White House official speaking anonymously told The Post that the call screen name was unrelated to the White House systems.
The so-called Epstein Island has long been deemed a controversial site as prosecutors have argued that much of Epstein’s misconduct, including sex trafficking and abuse, took place on his estate on the private Caribbean island of Little St James.
Although the current focus of discourse and debates in the US is the ongoing war on Iran, the White House hasn’t been able to dodge questions about US President Donald Trump’s onetime friendship with Epstein in the early 2000s.
As far as the MAGA leader’s account on the issue goes, he has repeatedly reiterated that he had no knowledge of the financier’s criminal behaviour and only knew him because of social gatherings in Palm Beach. He has long asserted that they fell out in the mid-2000s.