Trump and Jeffrey Epstein’s friendship and historical past, defined

[ad_1] Simply how shut was Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein?

The president’s onetime friendship with Jeffrey Epstein — the well-connected financier who was indicted for intercourse trafficking underage women and died in prison in 2019 — has lengthy been a matter of public file.

The 2 socialized collectively incessantly in New York Metropolis and Palm Seashore from the late Eighties to the early 2000s. In 2002, Trump praised Epstein to a reporter as a “terrific man” — and curiously added that he “likes lovely ladies” on “the youthful aspect.”

A brand new Wall Street Journal report provides one other eyebrow-raising element. In 2003, Epstein acquired a “birthday guide” with messages from a lot of his influential mates, and in it, there’s a message from Trump.

Inside a drawing of a unadorned lady’s define, the message claims Trump and Epstein have “sure issues in frequent.” It concludes: “A pal is a superb factor. Pleased Birthday — and will every single day be one other great secret.” (Photographs from the guide itself haven't been printed; the Journal’s report described it.)

Trump says that the message is pretend and that he’ll sue the Journal and its proprietor, Rupert Murdoch, for publishing the story. The birthday guide is at present within the possession of the Justice Division, which might assist clarify why the Trump administration has appeared so reluctant to release additional DOJ information within the Epstein case.

A lot of the net proper has been obsessive about the Epstein scandal for years, hoping Democrats and celebrities could be implicated in his intercourse crimes. They’ve been comparatively bored with Trump’s well-documented, decade-plus relationship with Epstein.

Nonetheless, Trump and Epstein’s friendship did reportedly finish in 2004 in a bitter falling-out; they had been preventing to purchase the identical Florida oceanside mansion , and it obtained ugly.

Trump and Epstein socialized incessantly for years

<img alt="Trump poses for a photo with Seynhaeve, Epstein is behind them" data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-2078474569.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.097303308312476%2C100%2C99.805393383375&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-2078474569.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.097303308312476%2C100%2C99.805393383375&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-2078474569.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.097303308312476%2C100%2C99.805393383375&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-2078474569.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.097303308312476%2C100%2C99.805393383375&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-2078474569.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.097303308312476%2C100%2C99.805393383375&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-2078474569.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.097303308312476%2C100%2C99.805393383375&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-2078474569.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.097303308312476%2C100%2C99.805393383375&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-2078474569.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.097303308312476%2C100%2C99.805393383375&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-2078474569.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.097303308312476%2C100%2C99.805393383375&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-2078474569.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.097303308312476%2C100%2C99.805393383375&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-2078474569.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.097303308312476%2C100%2C99.805393383375&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-2078474569.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.097303308312476%2C100%2C99.805393383375&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-2078474569.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.097303308312476%2C100%2C99.805393383375&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-2078474569.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.097303308312476%2C100%2C99.805393383375&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-2078474569.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.097303308312476%2C100%2C99.805393383375&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-2078474569.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.097303308312476%2C100%2C99.805393383375&w=2400"/> Trump, Belgian mannequin Ingrid Seynhaeve, and Jeffrey Epstein attend the Victoria’s Secret “Angels” get together on April 28, 1997, in New York Metropolis. Sonia Moskowitz/Getty Photographs

A gifted social climber who quickly attained huge wealth by way of mysterious means , Epstein grew to become a fixture of New York Metropolis and Palm Seashore elite circles by the Nineteen Nineties.

Throughout this era, each Epstein and Trump incessantly dined and partied collectively, at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago membership in Florida and Epstein’s mansion in Manhattan. Each incessantly hosted or attended events that includes many fashions, cheerleaders , magnificence pageant contestants, and different enticing younger ladies as visitors. They had been usually photographed collectively at these occasions, usually with Epstein’s companion Ghislaine Maxwell as effectively.

In 1992, the New York Times reported that two dozen ladies went to Mar-a-Lago for a “calendar lady” competitors earlier than solely two visitors: Trump and Epstein. Per flight logs, Trump flew on Epstein’s personal jets seven times between 1993 to 1997, although he by no means went to the personal island within the US Virgin Islands that Epstein purchased in 1998 .

20 years later, in tape-recorded interviews with journalist Michael Wolff, Epstein claimed that he “was Donald’s closest good friend for 10 years.” Epstein mentioned that he and Trump incessantly picked up ladies collectively in Atlantic Metropolis casinos, that Trump loved seducing his finest mates’ wives, and that the primary time Trump “slept with” Melania was “on my airplane.” (When Wolff launched the tapes final 12 months, Trump’s crew dismissed them as “false smears.”)

<img alt="Trump, Melania, Epstein, and Maxwell pose for a photo" data-chromatic="ignore" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-nimg="fill" class="mvmjsc0" style="position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='/%3E%3C/svg%3E")" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 1023px) 50vw, 700px" srcset="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-1192977807.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C8.2871908453304%2C100%2C83.425618309339&w=256 256w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-1192977807.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C8.2871908453304%2C100%2C83.425618309339&w=376 376w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-1192977807.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C8.2871908453304%2C100%2C83.425618309339&w=384 384w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-1192977807.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C8.2871908453304%2C100%2C83.425618309339&w=415 415w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-1192977807.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C8.2871908453304%2C100%2C83.425618309339&w=480 480w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-1192977807.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C8.2871908453304%2C100%2C83.425618309339&w=540 540w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-1192977807.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C8.2871908453304%2C100%2C83.425618309339&w=640 640w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-1192977807.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C8.2871908453304%2C100%2C83.425618309339&w=750 750w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-1192977807.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C8.2871908453304%2C100%2C83.425618309339&w=828 828w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-1192977807.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C8.2871908453304%2C100%2C83.425618309339&w=1080 1080w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-1192977807.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C8.2871908453304%2C100%2C83.425618309339&w=1200 1200w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-1192977807.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C8.2871908453304%2C100%2C83.425618309339&w=1440 1440w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-1192977807.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C8.2871908453304%2C100%2C83.425618309339&w=1920 1920w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-1192977807.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C8.2871908453304%2C100%2C83.425618309339&w=2048 2048w, https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-1192977807.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C8.2871908453304%2C100%2C83.425618309339&w=2400 2400w" src="https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/07/GettyImages-1192977807.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C8.2871908453304%2C100%2C83.425618309339&w=2400"/> From left, Trump and his girlfriend (and future spouse), former mannequin Melania Knauss, Jeffrey Epstein, and Ghislaine Maxwell pose collectively on the Mar-a-Lago membership, Palm Seashore, Florida, February 12, 2000. Davidoff Studios/Getty

Each Trump and Epstein had been accused of sexual misconduct round this time as effectively — Trump in a 1997 sexual assault lawsuit , and Epstein in a 1997 police report .

No less than as soon as, Mar-a-Lago was allegedly a recruiting website for Epstein’s ring. In 2000, 16-year-old Virginia Giuffre was working as a pool attendant at Trump’s membership when Maxwell supplied her a job as Epstein’s masseuse. Giuffre alleged that, over the following two years, Epstein and Maxwell then groomed her to have sex with rich and influential males, together with Prince Andrew of the British royal household. Guiffre died by suicide earlier this 12 months.

When a journalist for New York journal profiled Epstein in 2002, Trump gave that quote that appeared to allude to Epstein’s choice for younger ladies. “I’ve recognized Jeff for 15 years. Terrific man,” he mentioned. “He’s a variety of enjoyable to be with. It's even mentioned that he likes lovely ladies as a lot as I do, and lots of of them are on the youthful aspect. Little question about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”

Then, in 2003, got here the birthday guide. In line with the Wall Street Journal , it was assembled by Maxwell, and contained joking and innuendo-laden messages from a lot of Epstein’s mates.

The entry with Trump’s title contained a drawing of the define of a unadorned lady, with the signature “Donald” beneath her waist, and an odd, typewritten message purporting to be a dialogue between Trump and Epstein. Within the dialogue, “Donald” says “We've sure issues in frequent, Jeffrey,” and “Enigmas by no means age.”

The dialogue concludes with “Donald” saying: “A pal is a superb factor. Pleased Birthday — and will every single day be one other great secret.” Per the Journal, the guide is at present within the Justice Division’s possession.

Trump claims the guide is pretend, asserting “these should not my phrases,” and claiming “I don’t draw photos.” (There are many articles about Trump’s penchant for doodling, sketching and drawing, containing quite a few examples of such.)

Salacious because the birthday guide sounds, it doesn't truly show any misconduct on Trump’s half: The message is imprecise. However clearly, it can feed intense hypothesis on precisely what Trump was referring to about “issues in frequent” and a “great secret.”

In courtroom proceedings and grand jury questioning, Epstein victims have accused a number of highly effective and influential males of being concerned in his intercourse crimes — however these names have largely been reported , and Trump’s title was not amongst them. In 2016, an nameless plaintiff filed a lawsuit claiming Trump and Epstein had raped her, however the circumstances round the lawsuit regarded very sketchy , and it was quickly dropped.

Trump and Epstein reportedly had a falling-out in 2004

But this completely happy friendship didn't final for much longer as a result of, in 2004, Trump and Epstein each badly wished to purchase the identical oceanfront Palm Seashore mansion up for public sale.

The Washington Publish chronicled the bitter falling-out, which concerned competing bids, every trashing the opposite to the trustee managing the public sale, and threats of lawsuits. (Trump gained the mansion, however bought it just a few years later to a Russian billionaire.)

This seems to have been a definitive break, as there’s no proof that Trump and Epstein socialized once more after this level.

Simply two weeks after the property public sale, the Palm Seashore police received a tip that younger ladies had been seen getting into and leaving Epstein’s house.

The investigation into Epstein really kicked off the next 12 months, in 2005, when a 14-year-old lady and her dad and mom went to the Palm Seashore police, accusing Epstein of molesting her throughout a therapeutic massage. Epstein was charged in Florida in 2006, however the case was resolved in 2008 in what was later derided as a sweetheart plea deal.

After that, Epstein’s victims pressed their case in civil lawsuits. An legal professional for the victims, Brad Edwards, has said that, in 2009, he sought info from varied Epstein acquaintances. Only a few had been keen to speak voluntarily, however Trump was — and Edwards mentioned he was “very useful within the info that he gave.”

In a courtroom submitting, Edwards asserted that Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago “as a result of Epstein sexually assaulted an underage lady on the membership.” This was seemingly the knowledge Trump supplied, since Trump has told others this as effectively. However the story has by no means been corroborated, and particulars on when this occurred stay elusive.

As soon as Trump was president, media reporting revived curiosity within the Epstein case, and he was arrested on new charges in 2019 . He died in jail a month later, in what FBI investigators say was a suicide .

Maxwell, Epstein’s companion, was arrested the following year , in 2020. “I do want her effectively,” Trump said then . “I’m not searching for something unhealthy for her.”