If William Shakespeare were around, he would have said that as far as pedophile Jeffrey Epstein is concerned, Donald Trump was hoisted by his own petard.

Translated into modern English, it means that Trump was blown up (hoisted) by the bomb (petard) he created.

In other words, he did it to himself. He put the scandalous Epstein coverup saga out there and it turned around to bite him.

That “petard,” or bomb, was the idea that Epstein, who died in his prison cell August 10, 2019, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, had a “client list’ of celebrities he serviced with underage girls at his island hideaway it the Virgin Islands dubbed Pedo Island.

Also, there was the accompanying bomb that officials in the U.S. government had the list but was refusing to release it in a massive coverup.

If he were elected in 2024 and returned to the White House, Trump and the MEGA movement promised, in an act of accountability and transparency, that the names on the client list would be released.

The “hoist,” or explosion, is the distinct possibility that there never was a client list so there are no names to release.

So now it has blown up in Trump’s face. And he suddenly is facing what he considers trivial nuisance questions about the client list at a time when he is seeking to do big things, like bringing Russia’s Vladimir Putin to the peace conference table.

But the questions will not go away even as he has directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to release grand jury testimony in the Epstein case.

Epstein had been held alone in a cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York when he apparently hanged himself.

However, there has been right wing conspiracy speculation that Epstein was murdered to keep him from naming his so-called “clients,” many of whom were rumored to be connected politicians and various celebrities.

Trump and his crowd of advisors had for years pushed the idea that federal law enforcement officials had information about an Epstein “client list,” but were withholding it to protect connected individuals who may have joined Epstein for sex parties at Pedo Island.

Two of the strongest advocates for the release of the client list before the election were, ironically, FBI Director Kash Patel and Dan Bongino, FBI deputy director, both Trump campaign supporters, who now sit on such information—if it exists.

Another was AG Bondi who shortly after she was appointed said, ”It’s a new day, it’s a new administration, and everything is going to come out in public.”

The same goes for Vice President JD Vance, who had previously asked what interest the government had in keeping Epstein’s client’s secret.

Bondi increased interest in the files when she—apparently inadvertently—said in answer to a question that the Epstein “client list” was sitting on her desk waiting to be released, when she meant to say “file” instead “client list.”

Trump, known for over hyping up events, built up expectations for an Epstein blockbuster during the campaign when he said he would probably release the Epstein files if elected. “Yeah, yeah, I would,” he told Fox News about releasing the Epstein file in 2024.

“A lot of big people went to the island,” Trump said shortly before the election, according to USA Today. “But fortunately, I was not one of them,” he added.

Rather than take the blame for the no Epstein “client list” public relations embarrassment, Trump turned on his backers who criticized Bondi for not releasing anything, let alone the “list.”

Trump called the whole thing a scam and a hoax, even though it helped catapult him back to the White House.

In fact, according to lawyer Alan Dershowitz, who should know, there never was an Epstein “client list.”

Dershowitz, who was Epstein’s lawyer, wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece last week that Epstein never created a “client list.” However, he said, the FBI interviewed alleged victims who named several ‘clients’” who names have been sealed by the courts. He suggested the media petition the courts for their release.

“I know who they are. They don’t include any current office holders,” Dershowitz wrote. That means Trump.

Veteran political reporter Peter Lucas can be reached at: peter.lucas@bostonherald.com