Everything Donald Trump Has Said About Jeffrey Epstein Relationship

Former President Donald Trump once described late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as a "terrific guy" who liked women "on the younger side."

Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a person under 18 as part of a 2008 plea deal. He was arrested in a far larger federal sex trafficking case in July 2019, dying behind bars in what prison officials ruled a suicide one month later.

This week, the identities of more than 170 previously anonymous associates and victims of Epstein are set to be revealed after U.S. Federal Judge Loretta Preska ordered the unsealing of a trove of court documents.

The development has sparked speculation about the names that could be on the list, alongside renewed scrutiny of Epstein's relationship with powerful men like Trump and former President Bill Clinton.

While it is unclear whether Trump will be named in the unsealed records, the former president's relationship with Epstein, by his own admission, dated back to at least 1987.

"I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy," Trump told New York magazine in 2002. "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. No doubt about it—Jeffrey enjoys his social life."

After Epstein was arrested in July 2019, Trump said he only knew Epstein because "everybody in Palm Beach" did. Trump said that he had not spoken to Epstein "in 15 years" due to "a falling out."

"I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you," Trump said, while also claiming that Epstein was never a member of his Mar-a-Lago club.

During an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson earlier this year, Trump said that the convicted sex offender and suspected sex trafficker had been "a fixture" in Palm Beach, Florida, and had a "beautiful" life before the discovery of his crimes.

"He was a fixture in Palm Beach," Trump said. "I think he probably committed suicide. He had a life with, you know, beautiful homes and beautiful everything. And all of a sudden, he's incarcerated and not doing very well."

Newsweek reached out for comment to Trump's office via email on Tuesday.

Despite Trump's remarks, there have been indications that Epstein may have been a member of Mar-a-Lago, or at least a friendly guest. Video footage released by NBC in 2019 shows Trump entertaining Epstein at the property in November 1992.

A 2020 book, The Grifter's Club, claimed that Epstein had been a member of the club. By October 2007, Epstein was reportedly banned over fears that he "could irreparably harm the Trump brand" after being caught hitting on a member's teenage daughter.

A January 2021 Vanity Fair article purporting to detail the "epic bromance" between Trump and Epstein claimed that the men fell out in 2005 over a real estate dispute.

Flight logs made public later in 2021 indicated that Trump flew on Epstein's private jet, which has been called the "Lolita Express," at least seven times, although there has been no evidence of Trump engaging in any related wrongdoing.

Longtime Trump associate Roger Stone dismissed connections between the former president and Epstein as a "smear" during an appearance on Lindell TV earlier this year, while adding that Trump once visited Epstein's Palm Beach, Florida, residence.

"[Trump] told the traveling security guard, 'Wow, what a nice guy Jeffrey Epstein is, letting all the kids in the neighborhood swim in his pool,'" Stone said. "Reportedly, Trump left the Epstein residence after only 15 minutes because he was uncomfortable with the mix of younger women and the limited number of men."

In addition to Trump's relationship with Epstein, the former president said he met with Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell "numerous times over the years" and wished her "well" after her arrest in 2020. Maxwell was later convicted of multiple child sex trafficking crimes and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.