Relationship of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein

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Jeffrey Epstein (left, pictured with Ghislaine Maxwell) maintained a close friendship with Donald Trump (right) for roughly 15 years.
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Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th President of the United States, developed a social and professional relationship with financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that began in the late 1980s and continued into the early 2000s.[1][2][3][4] During Trump's prior careers as a businessman and media personality before entering politics in 2015, he and Epstein would visit each other's properties regularly, and people who knew them at the time said they frequently flirted with and competed for women.

Trump and Epstein socialized frequently throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, including attending parties at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and Epstein's residence. Flight logs released during an associate's trial confirm that Trump flew on Epstein's private jet multiple times in the 1990s, and according to Epstein, Trump had first slept with First Lady of the United States Melania Knauss in his private jet. Trump and his representatives claim he had a falling out with Epstein around 2004 and ceased contact. Reasons given for the break have varied, from a rivalry over a real estate deal to Epstein poaching spa staff from Mar-a-Lago. In 2007, after Epstein was said to have sexually harassed a teenage daughter of another Mar-a-Lago member, Trump revoked his Mar-a-Lago membership.

Since Epstein's 2019 arrest for sex trafficking of minors and his death in prison shortly thereafter, their former relationship has come under further scrutiny, particularly during and after Trump's elections as President in 2016 and 2024. Trump has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activities and distanced himself from the disgraced financier in the years before Epstein's arrest and death. Trump promoted unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about the circumstances and suggested Epstein was murdered. Media attention and public pressure has mounted in 2025, as Trump's administration has not released files relating to Epstein, despite Trump promising to do so during his 2024 presidential campaign.

Although Virginia Giuffre revealed that Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell had recruited her from Trump's Mar-a-Lago club into a sex trafficking ring, she did not accuse Trump himself of wrongdoing. Lawsuits related to her claims also did not allege misconduct on Trump's part. After Giuffre's death, Trump confirmed that Epstein "stole" Giuffre and other women from the spa at Mar-a-Lago. Giuffre's family reacted with shock and said Trump's comments raised questions about what he knew and when, and reiterated that anyone in Epstein's orbit, including Trump, should be investigated. In 2025, Maxwell claimed she never witnessed Trump behave inappropriately and claimed that Trump and Epstein were not "close friends", contradicting Epstein previously stating he was Trump's closest friend. Although Giuffre did not accuse Trump of abuse, her recruitment from his property and his past association with Epstein have repeatedly brought his name into the legal and public discussions surrounding the scandal. While no criminal wrongdoing has ever been established against Trump in connection to Epstein's crimes, recent document releases have fueled renewed questions about his conduct. A sexually suggestive birthday note, allegedly written by Trump to Epstein in 2003, included a crude drawing and the words, "may every day be another wonderful secret." Trump has denied writing the note.

History

[edit]

Since the 1970s, at least 28 women have accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct,[5] for acts that have included rape, kissing and groping without consent; looking under women's skirts; and walking in on naked teenage pageant contestants. Trump has denied all of the allegations. He has a history of insulting and belittling women when speaking to the media and on social media,[6][7] and has made lewd comments about women, disparaged their physical appearance, and referred to them using derogatory epithets.[7][8][9]

Jeffrey Epstein began his professional career as a teacher at the Dalton School. After his dismissal from the school in 1976, he entered the banking and finance sector, working at Bear Stearns in various roles before starting his own firm. Epstein cultivated an elite social circle[10] and procured many women and children whom he and his associates sexually abused.[11]

1980s–1992

[edit]
Exterior of Mar-a-Lago in 1999

Trump said that his friendship with Epstein started in the late 1980s. The two men were neighbors and would visit each other's properties.[12][1] Trump and Epstein met sometime around 1990 when Epstein bought a mansion two miles north of Mar-a-Lago which Trump had purchased five years earlier in 1985.[13] In 1992, Trump invited NBC to film a party he threw for himself and Epstein at Mar-a-Lago, where they joined various NFL cheerleaders. In the NBC video, Trump was filmed at a Mar-a-Lago party whispering in Epstein's ear, prompting Epstein to start laughing. NBC News revealed footage of the party in July 2019, showing Trump, Epstein and the cheerleaders. At one point during the video, Trump appears to tell Epstein: "Look at her, back there ... She's hot."[14][15][16][13]

Also in 1992, Florida businessman George Houraney said that he had brought 28 people he described as "girls" to the property at Trump's request in order to host a private "calendar girl" event exclusively for Trump and Epstein.[4][17] In 1997, Jill Harth dropped a sexual misconduct lawsuit against Trump from the "calendar girl competition" where she alleged Trump took her into a bedroom and forcibly kissed, fondled, and restrained her from leaving.[13]

1993

[edit]

Model Stacey Williams said that, upon arriving at the Trump Tower in 1993, Trump and Epstein touched her while trading smiles. She told The Guardian in 2024 that "It became very clear then that he and Donald were really, really good friends and spent a lot of time together." She described the incident as a "twisted game" between Trump and Epstein.[4]

Epstein attended Trump's wedding to Marla Maples in the Plaza Hotel. Later that year, Epstein went to a Harley-Davidson Cafe with Trump and his children. There are photographs of both interactions.[18]

1994–2000

[edit]

Trump flew in Epstein's private plane seven times between 1993 and 1997, according to flight logs released in 2021.[19][20][3] According to Epstein, Trump had first slept with Melania Knauss in his private jet.[4]

Maria Farmer, the first person to report Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to law enforcement, encountered Trump late at night in Epstein's Manhattan office in 1995. Farmer was then in her mid-20s. She described Trump as leering at her in a way that felt threatening until Epstein entered the room and warned him off, saying: "No, no. She's not here for you." Trump and Epstein then left the room, and Farmer overheard Trump say he had assumed Farmer was a teenager.[21]

In 1997, Trump inscribed a copy of his book Trump: The Art of the Comeback to Epstein, writing: "You are the greatest!"[22]

Epstein and Trump were photographed together at Mar-a-Lago and at a Victoria's Secret Angels event in New York in 1997, and there is video of Epstein and Trump chatting at a Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in New York in 1999.[18] In 2000, Trump and Melania were pictured alongside Epstein and Maxwell.[4]

Trump's name was listed in Epstein's partially redacted "black book" of contacts.[19] His name also appeared in a number of court documents related to Epstein that were released in 2024. Trump was not accused of any crime in any of the documents.[12]

2000 recruitment of Virginia Giuffre

[edit]

As a teenager, Virginia Giuffre worked as a locker room attendant in the spa at Mar-a-Lago. There, she met Maxwell, who recruited her as Epstein's masseuse.[3][23][24]

Trump told reporters on July 28, 2025:

"For years, I wouldn't talk to Jeffrey Epstein... Because he did something that was inappropriate. He hired help and I said, 'Don't ever do that again.' He stole people that worked for me. I said, 'Don't ever do that again.' And he did it again. And I threw him out of the place. Persona non grata. I threw him out and that was it."[25]

The next day, asked by reporters whether any of those workers were "young women" and whether Giuffre was included, Trump replied affirmatively:

"Everyone knows the people that were taken, and ... taking people that work for me is bad. ... yes, they were [young women] ... [workers] were taken out of the [Mar-a-Lago] spa, hired by him [Epstein]. ... I told him, I said, 'Listen, we don't want you taking our people, whether it was spa or not spa. I don't want him taking people.' And he was fine. And then not too long after that, he did it again and I said, 'Out of here.' ... Yeah. He, he stole her [Giuffre]. And by the way, she had no complaints about us as you know."[26]

Despite Trump's 2025 recollection that he expelled Epstein from the club "not too long" after Epstein hired Giuffre in 2000, Epstein had remained a member of Mar-a-Lago until 2007.[27]

Giuffre's family reacted with shock and said Trump's comments raised questions about what he knew and when, and reiterated that anyone in Epstein's orbit, including Trump, should be investigated.

Early 2000s

[edit]

In 2002, speaking to New York magazine, Trump said "I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy." He also stated that "He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side."[17][12]

According to The Wall Street Journal, in 2003 Trump sent a birthday letter to Epstein that included a drawing of a naked woman.[3] The letter was collected by Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, for a leather-bound photo album sometime before 2006, and was among the documents examined by the Justice Department who investigated Epstein and Maxwell years ago. The letter, which bore Trump's signature, featured several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, apparently hand-drawn in a heavy marker. The Wall Street Journal described Trump's "squiggly" signature below the woman's waist as mimicking pubic hair.[28] According to the Journal, the letter contained an imagined dialogue in which Trump tells Epstein that "We have certain things in common, Jeffrey" and Epstein replies "Yes, we do, come to think of it." The dialogue concludes with Trump saying: "A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret."[12][29] Trump immediately denied having written the letter and sued the Journal for defamation.[30] Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a letter matching this description, and apparently signed by Trump, on September 8, 2025.[31][32] The entire birthday greeting album, entitled The First Fifty Years, was made public the following day.

Mid-2000s, after falling out

[edit]
View of the Maison de L'Amitie

In 2004, Trump and Epstein competed to buy the Maison de L'Amitie at its foreclosure auction. Trump outbid Epstein, renovating the house and selling it four years later at a profit.[33][34] Some media reports have described the outbidding as the end of the Trump–Epstein friendship, with phone records indicating that the two ceased communicating after the fact.[35][3][4] As of Epstein's 2019 arrest, Trump had not confirmed that the bidding caused the end of his friendship with Epstein.[1][a]

Epstein was investigated by Palm Beach police in April 2005 for soliciting an underage girl for sexual purposes, leading to a June 2006 indictment by a grand jury of one count of solicitation of prostitution. The FBI began investigating in July 2006, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office indicted him in June 2007.[39] He pled guilty in June 2008.[3][40] The plea deal was approved by U.S. attorney Alexander Acosta,[41] an appointee of President George W. Bush. Acosta would go on to be appointed as Labor Secretary by Trump nearly a decade later.

2007 ban from Mar-a-Lago

[edit]

In 2007, after Epstein was said to have sexually harassed a teenage daughter of another Mar-a-Lago member, Trump revoked his Mar-a-Lago membership.[42][43] The girl had been working as a masseuse in the spa.[44] The 2016 book Filthy Rich detailed that the teen had told her father "while relaxing at Mar-a-Lago, she’d been approached and invited out to Epstein’s house. The girl said that she had gone and that Epstein had tried to get her to undress. The girl’s father had gone directly to Trump, who—in no uncertain terms—told Epstein that he was barred from Mar-a-Lago."[45] Mar-a-Lago's registry shows Epstein was a member until October 2007, according to the 2020 book The Grifter's Club.[46] The New York Times reports that Trump gave the same explanation to associates, and that in 2009, Brad Edwards, an attorney for a number of Epstein’s victims, was told something similar by Trump.[47]

"When he [Trump] first heard the rumour," House Speaker Mike Johnson told CNN on September 4, 2025, "he kicked him out of Mar-a-Lago. He was an FBI informant to try to take this stuff down."[48][49] On September 7, Johnson retracted his claim.[50]

After Epstein's 2008 conviction

[edit]

In 2015, Trump adviser Roger Stone published The Clintons' War on Women in which he quoted a Mar-a-Lago member who remembered Trump having said that Epstein had "beautiful young girls" in his Palm Beach swimming pool. Trump allegedly said: "'How nice,' I thought, 'he [Epstein] let the neighborhood kids use his pool.'"[51]

In April 2016, an anonymous woman using the pseudonym "Katie Johnson" filed a lawsuit in California accusing both Trump and Epstein of forcibly raping her when she was 13 years old at underage sex parties at Epstein's Manhattan residence in 1994.[52][53] The case was dismissed the following month. A second version of the lawsuit was filed in New York in June by the same woman as "Jane Doe" claiming to have been raped and sexually assaulted by the pair at four 1994 parties when she was 13.[54][55] The lawsuit was refiled in September,[56] and on November 2, Doe was scheduled to appear at a press conference at the office of Lisa Bloom before abruptly canceling; Bloom said Jane Doe had received multiple threats.[57][58] The lawsuit was withdrawn two days later.[59]

In a tape recorded in 2017 and published in 2024 by Trump biographer Michael Wolff, who was doing research for his 2018 book Fire and Fury, Epstein said that he had been Trump's "closest friend for 10 years". He also criticized the first Trump administration and said that Trump was "a horrible human being" who would do "nasty things to his best friends, his best friends' wives, anyone who he first tries to gain their trust and uses it to do bad things to them".[4][20]

In 2019, after Epstein was arrested under sex trafficking charges, Trump said that he had not been in contact with Epstein for 15 years. In 2020, on the topic of Maxwell's criminal prosecution, Trump said that "I do wish her well. I'm not looking for anything bad for her".[60][3] Trump later doubled down on his wish to Maxwell, stating that "I'd wish a lot of people well. Good luck. Let them prove somebody was guilty."[61]

According to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal in 2023, Epstein attempted to meet Trump associates Thomas Barrack and Peter Thiel in 2016.[62]

Birthday book revelations

[edit]

In September 2025, the House Oversight Committee released a 2003 birthday album created by Maxwell for Epstein's 50th birthday, titled The First Fifty Years.[63]

The album included a note alleged to have been signed by Trump, featuring a drawing and a typewritten message. Trump denied writing or signing the note and his legal team has disputed its authenticity.[64][65]

Coverage of the release described the disputed note as adding renewed public and media attention to Trump’s past association with Epstein.[66]

Commentary

[edit]
Trump, in 2019, talks about his relationship with Epstein.

During Maxwell's 2021 trial, a woman who said that she was groomed as a minor by Maxwell testified that Epstein had introduced her to Trump at the age of 14. She did not accuse Trump of any illegal behavior or explain why she was introduced to him.[67]

Elon Musk tweeted in June 2025 that Trump "is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public". He deleted the post shortly afterwards, stating that it "went too far".[68][69]

Trump's relationship with Epstein received significant media attention in 2025 due to the unwillingness of the Trump administration to release files relating to Epstein, despite Trump's earlier promises to do so during the 2024 campaign.[70] Trump received significant amounts of blowback from the media, the public, and even many of his supporters for this decision. While Trump has attempted to distance himself from Epstein and downplay their association, some of the MAGA movement's most fervent supporters grew increasingly vocal in demanding the release of Epstein-related files, leading to visible fractures within his support base.[71][72][73]

After U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and other Trump officials had for months teased the imminent release of incendiary information (the "Jeffrey Epstein client list") from FBI records of the investigation into Epstein's sex trafficking operation, Bondi stated in a memo released in July 2025 that there was no evidence that Epstein had such a list or that he had blackmailed prominent individuals. The memo also confirmed that Epstein had committed suicide while in custody.[74] The announcement caused an uproar among some of Trump's most fervent supporters who had bought into the conspiracy theory that Epstein was at the center of "a cabal of powerful men and celebrities, largely Democrats" and that the government had covered it up.[75] In social media posts, Trump said the continuing demands for release of the files were a hoax perpetrated by Democrats, and that his supporters pressing for release were "stupid", "foolish", and "past supporters".[76][77]

In 2024, Epstein's brother Mark said that he did not know why Epstein and Trump's friendship ended. He stated that Epstein had said in a tape that he "stopped hanging out with Donald Trump when he realized Trump was a crook".[78] In July 2025, Mark Epstein made further statements, emphasizing their closeness, refuting Trump's assertions that he "was not a fan" and Steven Cheung's statement that "The President was never in Epstein's office…" in relation to the accusation of one of Epstein's victims who mentioned having had a "disturbing" encounter with Trump in Jeffrey's office, in 1995. Mark also declared he didn't know anything about his brother's crimes until 2006.[79]

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Ghislaine Maxwell on July 24 and 25, 2025 at the U.S. attorney's office in Tallahassee.[80][81] Maxwell told Blanche (according to the transcript released a month later)[82][83] that Trump and Epstein were not "close friends" (contradicting Epstein previously stating he was Trump's closest friend)[84] and that she was "sure" that Bill Clinton "absolutely never went" to Epstein's island, given that "I don't believe he had an independent friendship, if you will, with Epstein.”[85][84]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ In his book Siege: Trump Under Fire, Michael Wolff claims that Epstein (whom he interviewed for his previous book Fire and Fury)[36] knew Trump "had been loaning his name in real estate deals – that is, for an ample fee, Trump would serve as a front man to disguise the actual ownership in a real estate transaction." So, after losing the auction, "a furious Epstein, certain that Trump was merely fronting for the real owners, threatened to expose the deal (...) But if Epstein knew some of Trump's secrets, Trump knew some of Epstein's. (...) Just as the enmity between the two friends increased over the house purchase, Epstein found himself under investigation by the Palm Beach police."[37] Wolff reiterated his claim that Trump's purchase of the mansion was likely a money laundering operation and that Epstein believed it was Trump who tipped the police on him, in a July 2025 video posted on Instagram.[38]

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Reinhard, Beth; Helderman, Rosalind S.; Fisher, Marc (July 31, 2019). "Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein partied together. Then an oceanfront Palm Beach mansion came between them". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  2. ^ Unger, Craig (January 21, 2021). "'He's a Lot of Fun to Be With': Inside Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump's Epic Bromance". Vanity Fair. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Broadwater, Luke (July 18, 2025). "A Timeline of What We Know About Trump and Epstein". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Gabbatt, Adam (July 18, 2025). "'He's a lot of fun to be with': Trump and Epstein were close friends for 15 years". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
  5. ^ Ferguson, Malcolm (October 31, 2024). "Pageant Queen Shares Horrifying Details of Trump Sexual Assault". The New Republic. Archived from the original on November 2, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  6. ^ Rothe, Dawn L.; Collins, Victoria E. (November 17, 2019). "Turning Back the Clock? Violence against Women and the Trump Administration". Victims & Offenders. 14 (8): 965–978. doi:10.1080/15564886.2019.1671284.
  7. ^ a b Shear, Michael D.; Sullivan, Eileen (October 16, 2018). "'Horseface,' 'Lowlife,' 'Fat, Ugly': How the President Demeans Women". The New York Times. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  8. ^ Prasad, Ritu (November 29, 2019). "How Trump talks about women – and does it matter?". BBC News. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
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  26. ^ The White House (July 29, 2025). President Trump Gaggles with the Press on Air Force One, July 29, 2025. Event occurs at 26:00–27:25. Retrieved July 29, 2025 – via YouTube.
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  35. ^ Kessler, Glenn; Vazquez, Maegan; Tucker, Brianna; Rodríguez, Jesús; Weil, Julie (July 17, 2025). "Analysis | Trump and Epstein had a relationship, but there's no evidence of Trump wrongdoing". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
  36. ^ Hugh Dougherty (November 2, 2024). "Listen To The Jeffrey Epstein Tapes: 'I Was Donald Trump's Closest Friend'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved August 2, 2025. (...) Epstein spoke at length about Trump with the author Michael Wolff in August 2017, two years before being found dead in his jail cell. Wolff was researching his bombshell bestseller Fire and Fury at the time. (...) [Updated June 5, 2025]
  37. ^ Michael Wolff (2019). Siege: Trump Under Fire. United States: Henry Holt and Company. pp. 1941–1942. ISBN 9781250253811. Retrieved August 8, 2025. [The book has 352 pages total. 1941-1942 is the numeration given by consulting the text online.]
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  44. ^ "Sex Case 'Victims' Lining Up". Page Six. October 15, 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2025.
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  50. ^ Partlow, Joshua; Alfaro, Mariana (September 7, 2025). "Johnson backs off claim that Trump was an 'FBI informant' in Epstein case". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 9, 2025.
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