Everything Trump Has Said About Why He Broke Up With Epstein

Donald Trump And Jeffrey EpsteinThe relationship between the two has been documented for decades, but resurfaced this week after reporter Michael Wolff claimed that Epstein once showed him photos of Trump– who denies this story – posing with topless ‘young girls’.

Trump, 78, has made a number of glowing comments about Epstein over the years, once noting that his former friend had a penchant for “younger” women in a 2002 interview with New York Magazine. More recently, Trump called the sex trafficker a “good salesman” in a podcast appearance with Lex Friedman.

Trump’s praise for the late Epstein, however, far outweighs his hard and fast distancing from the former financier since his arrest on July 6, 2019 — two weeks before authorities say he died by suicide while in custody.

Below are some of Trump’s comments – the good, the bad and the ugly – about Epstein over the years.

‘Great guy’ who likes his young women

Perhaps Trump’s most infamous comments about Epstein came in 2002, when he spoke to a New York magazine reporter for a profile detailing the life of his fellow New York City resident who, like Trump, visited Palm Beach.

Trump told a reporter on the phone that he had known Epstein for 15 years. Trump then described Epstein, then 49, as a “great guy” who “likes to have fun.”

Trump’s next line, however, is probably the one he regrets most.

“It’s even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do,” Trump said, “and many of them are on the younger side.

Trump’s quote in the 20-year-old piece ended: “There’s no doubt about it: Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”

It was true during this period, according to a source who spoke The Washington PostTrump and Epstein were so close that they were “each other’s wingmen.”

A ‘bitter’ real estate rivalry

Just two years after he sang Epstein’s praises to a magazine reporter, things reportedly turned nasty between Trump and Epstein during a “bitter” bidding war for a prime property on the Palm Beach coast, reported the Post.

The property, the Maison de l’Amitie as it was called, was put up for auction in 2004 after it was seized from bankrupt nursing home magnate Abe Gosman.

The After explained that Trump wanted to buy the estate and make a profit from it, while Epstein wanted to make the estate his permanent home. Although their reasons for pursuing the waterfront mansion differed, their desire to win at all costs would drive them to bash each other behind closed doors.

The curator who oversaw the auction, Joseph Luzinski, told the After that each man tried to convince him that the other did not have the money to pay for the estate.

Luzinski told the After: “It was like Donald saying, ‘You don’t want to make a deal with him, he doesn’t have the money,’ while Epstein said, ‘Donald is all talk. He doesn’t have the money.’ They both really wanted it.”

Trump drove up the price in a bidding war on auction day, just months before Epstein was first investigated by Florida police for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.

Trump won the auction and purchased the property for $41.35 million to outbid a third potential buyer and Epstein, whose final bid was $38.6 million. There were no public reports of interaction between Trump and Epstein after the sale.

‘He’s a real creep’

Trump’s private bashing of Epstein wasn’t limited to the real estate divide. Trump also disparaged Epstein to a 2016 campaign worker as a “real creep” After reported. Trump also reportedly claimed to that aide during his 2016 campaign that he had banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago because he had acted inappropriately toward a girl there.

The first report of the alleged Mar-a-Lago ban appears to come from the New York Post in 2007. The tabloid quoted a source as saying, “(Epstein) would use the spa to try to recruit girls. But one of them, a masseuse about 18 years old, tried to make her do things. Her dad found out and went all monkey-(bleep).”

Epstein denied that he had been banned from Mar-a-Lago, telling the newspaper that he had “recently” been invited to an event there.

Trump, who, according to records, flew on an Epstein jet at least seven times in the 1990s between New York and Palm Beach, has repeatedly pointed to the club ban as evidence that he distanced himself from Epstein at the first sign of red flags.

An awkward pool party

Roger Stone, a former Trump adviser, gave an ominous account of what Trump claimed to have seen at Epstein’s Palm Beach estate.

In Stone’s 2016 book, The Clintons’ war on womenhe wrote that Trump was speaking to a Mar-a-Lago member After a visit to Epstein’s home, it turned out that a bevy of girls in the financier’s pool turned out to be minors.

“The pool was filled with beautiful young girls,” Trump said, according to Stone. The book noted that Trump then jokingly added, “’How nice,’ I thought, ‘he let the neighborhood kids use his pool.’”

Stone reportedly said in a later appearance on Lindell TV that Trump left Epstein’s home after just 15 minutes because he felt “uncomfortable with the mix of younger women and the limited number of men.” It is unclear when Trump’s alleged visit to Epstein’s home took place.

Stone’s book stated that Trump was invited to Epstein’s infamous private island, but he always declined.

Another account of Trump dating back to 2016 came via San Nunberg, an ex-campaign official. Nunberg said The New York Times that he questioned Trump about his ties to Epstein during his first campaign. Then-candidate Trump reportedly dismissed the connection as settled.

“I kicked him out of the clubs when this stuff became public,” Trump said, according to Nunberg. “And I made sure NBC knew.”

Reaction to Epstein’s arrest

Epstein was arrested on July 6, 2019, midway through Trump’s presidency.

Trump was immediately called on to answer questions about his relationship with Epstein, claiming he had had a falling out with him and had not spoken to him in 15 years.

On July 9, 2019, Trump was pressed about their relationship responded to a reporter, “Well, I knew him like everyone in Palm Beach knew him. I mean, people in Palm Beach knew him. He was a fixture in Palm Beach. I had a fight with him a long time ago. I don’t think I’ve spoken to him in fifteen years. I wasn’t a fan. I wasn’t – yeah, a long time ago, I’d say maybe fifteen years. I wasn’t a fan of his. I can tell you that. I wasn’t a fan of his.”

Trump echoed that sentiment on other occasions, including three days later when asked if he had knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.

“No, I had no idea,” Trump said on the south lawn of the White House. “I had no idea. I haven’t spoken to him in many years. But I had…I had no idea.”

Trump added in response to another question that day: “Jeffrey Epstein was not someone I respected. I threw him out. In fact, I think the great James Patterson, who is a member of Mar-a-Lago, made a statement yesterday that I kicked him out many years ago.

Good wishes to Epstein’s buyer

While Trump was spoken harshly about Epstein, he had much nicer words for his old attorney in July 2020, Ghislaine Maxwellafter she was arrested in connection with Epstein’s crimes.

“Honestly, I wish her the best,” Trump said of Maxwell. “I’ve met her several times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach, and I think they lived in Palm Beach. But I wish her the best, whatever it is.”

Trump was heavily criticized for the comment, which came just months before the 2020 election. However, that criticism did not stop him from expressing his well wishes to Maxwell, repeating the phrase for a second time in a television interview with Axios a month later.

“Her boyfriend, or boyfriend, was murdered or committed suicide in prison. She is in jail now,” Trump said. “Yes, I wish her the best. I would wish you the best. I wish many people strength. Success. Let them prove someone was guilty.”

Maxwell, 62, was sentenced in 2022 to two decades behind bars for conspiring with Epstein. Like Epstein, she was photographed with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in the early 2000s.

An Epstein jet on the campaign trail

Trump’s campaign admitted to the Daily Beast in September that the former president had accidentally chartered a private jet for a fundraising organization that once belonged to Epstein.

The blunder, just as Wolff’s claim did this week, resurfaced the relationship between Trump and Epstein that dates back more than three decades.

A Trump campaign spokesperson explained that the plane was provided by a charter company after Trump’s plane was forced to be grounded for repairs. The temporary plane, which Trump flew only once, was decorated with pro-Trump stickers by the plane’s owner, who also claimed to know nothing about the sordid past of his Gulfstream G550.

“The campaign had absolutely no idea that the plane we rented was previously owned by Mr. Epstein,” a Trump official told the Daily Beast, adding that Trump advisers only learned of the plane’s dark past when journalists contacted them.

Trump did not address the gaffe personally, just as he avoided speaking about the latest allegations leaked audio clip– put forward this week by Wolff.