Trump Speaks on Past Friendship with Epstein
On Tuesday, President Trump shared with reporters that he ended his friendship with financier Jeffrey Epstein after discovering that Epstein had “stolen” female staff members from the Mar-A-Lago spa.
Trump recounted an incident during a flight on Air Force One, noting that he employed spa workers multiple times, despite Epstein frequently ignoring warnings about sex offenders. He acknowledged that among those employed by Epstein were young women, including Virginia Giuffre, who was just 17 at the time.
“The idea was that everyone knew the staff, and we wanted to keep those working for me,” Trump explained. He mentioned that complaints from others about Epstein taking women from the spa had reached him. “When I became aware, I told him, ‘Don’t take our staff from the spa.’ He agreed, but then it happened again, and I said, ‘You’re done here.’”
Reporters inquired if Giuffre had been one of the spa’s employees. Trump responded, “I don’t know. I think she worked there… I believe she was one of them. Yes, he took her, and she never expressed any complaints to us.”
He further stated that Epstein’s involvement marked the end of their relationship at Mar-A-Lago. “I don’t want to delve into it much. This was years ago, but I made it clear—‘Don’t do that anymore. They work for me.’ After that, it was over,” Trump said.
Giuffre, a key figure against Epstein, had claimed that she was trafficked by his long-time associate Ghislaine Maxwell to perform sexual acts. In a December 2019 interview, she alleged that Prince Andrew sexually abused her at the age of 17 in Epstein and Maxwell’s home. Giuffre sadly passed away in April at 41.
Previously, Trump stated he distanced himself from Epstein following a disagreement over a property purchase in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2004. Reports have suggested that Trump banned Epstein from Mar-A-Lago due to concerns about his behavior around a teenage daughter of another member.
In a press conference on Monday with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump claimed that evidence against him concerning Epstein’s case would be released by the Biden administration to aid the Democrats in the upcoming 2024 election.
