The harrowing case of financier, former teacher and convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, who ran a sex trafficking ring of underage girls (with the support of ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxell) is one that is continuing to draw attention. This is despite Epstein dying by suicide in prison almost six years ago and Maxwell being sentenced to 20 years in prison back in June 2022, for her part of conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors.
Epstein died before his case, which saw him accused of sexually exploiting and abusing dozens of vulnerable girls (some as young as 14), went to trial – and many speculated that if his court case had gone ahead, plenty of other famous faces would be put under the spotlight too.
Internet sleuths have become obsessed with scouring the flight logs to Epstein's private island and speculating as to who could be mentioned within an alleged 'client list' that conspiracy theorists claim is contained within the so-called 'Epstein files', previously believed to held by the FBI – and which Epstein's former close friend, President Donald Trump, called to be made public in 2019.
However, no such client list has ever been released and after a recent big falling out with tech entrepreneur and former right-hand-man, Elon Musk, Trump has found himself accused of deliberately stopping 'the list' from being released. Because, in Musk's words, Trump is in the files.
Having once publicly described Epstein as a "terrific guy" and having been pictured with him on multiple occasions, the President swiftly changed tack once Epstein's crimes became publicly known and has denied all wrongdoing or nefarious involvement.
So, what's the deal with Epstein and Trump's connection? Here's everything you need to know about their relationship over the years.
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How did Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump meet?
While it's not known exactly when Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump met, it's clear the pair shared a lengthy friendship. In a 2002 New York Magazine article on Epstein, Trump was quoted as saying: “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years," and various footage of the pair partying in 1992 at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate confirms it was a friendship that spanned decades.
The connection is thought to have originated from the fact that both men owned properties in Florida's Palm Beach, an exceedingly wealthy area brimming with luxury resorts and expansive (read: expensive) mansions.
Multi-millionaire Jeffrey Epstein is believed to have purchased his Palm Beach property in 1990, paying nearly $2.5 million for the 8000-square-foot house (which came complete with five bedrooms, more than 7 bathrooms, and a pool). It was in this very house where the allegations against Epstein began, after the stepmother of a 14-year-old girl reported him to the police because the teen was found with $300 in cash on her at school and claimed she had earned it by massaging him.
Trump, meanwhile, owned the adjacent property – his famed Mar-a-Lago estate. The businessman purchased the sprawling, 128-room mansion for $5 million in 1985, and a decade later, in 1995, turned it into a private club containing a 20,000-square-foot ballroom.
Trump and Epstein had enormous wealth in common and that was an incentive for the friendship, according to a Washington Post interview with Sam Nunberg, a former Trump aide. "Bottom line," he said, "Donald would hang out with Epstein because he was rich."
Were Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump friends or business associates?
Despite Trump's background as a businessman, and Epstein's in finance, it's not thought that the pair shared a professional relationship. In fact, the New York Times reports Jeffrey Epstein wasn't even a paying member of Mar-a-Lago, but instead attended numerous times as "a guest of a guest".
The pair were clearly friendly, though, as they were pictured together at Trump's Palm Beach estate on multiple occasions throughout the '90s and the early '00s. Epstein even reportedly claimed that he was responsible for introducing Donald Trump to his now-wife, Melania. This doesn't match up with the Trumps' account of how they met, however. According to a Vanity Fair profile on the First Lady in 2017, Melania is fond of telling the story of how Donald approached her at a party during Fashion Week 1998 in New York, while his own date went to the bathroom. He reportedly asked her for her number, to which she asked him for his instead. It's "a story she tells proudly", apparently.
While the accounts of Melania and Donald Trump's introduction differ, as the politician attempted to distance himself from a disgraced-Epstein during his first-term Presidential campaigning, Trump wasn't always so shy about his friendship with the wealthy financier.
In a New York Magazine article on Epstein from 2002, Donald Trump was quoted as saying: "I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. 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."
Why did Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump fall out?
The friendship between Epstein and Trump wasn't to last. however. Speaking in July 2019, just days after Jeffrey Epstein was charged with sex trafficking, Donald Trump was eager to clarify that there pair were no longer friends – and hadn't been for quite some time.
"I had a falling out with him," said the President. "I haven’t spoken to him in 15 years. I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you."
So what happened to the Epstein/Trump friendship to make it all turn so sour? Apparently, it wasn't anything to do with a moral awakening over Epstein's abuse of young girls that saw the friendship done and dusted. It was a fight over real estate.
In 2004, another Palm Beach property came up for grabs – an oceanfront mansion ironically called Maison de l’Amitie, or the House of Friendship. The property was being sold as a result of its previous owner Abe Gosman's bankruptcy, and according to a Washington Post report, both Epstein and Trump were keen to get their hands on it.
"It was something like, Donald saying,'You don’t want to do a deal with him, he doesn’t have the money,' while Epstein was saying: 'Donald is all talk. He doesn’t have the money'," recalled Joseph Luzinski, who was the trustee in the case. "They both really wanted it," he told the Post.
What ensued was an outright bidding war between the two men - and their legal parties - for the estate, which Trump had described as "the finest piece of land in Florida and probably the U.S."
In the end, Trump won the bid, securing the property for $41.35 million, beating Epstein's drop-out bid of $38.6 and also the offers of a third bidder. Just four years later, in 2008, the Washington Post reports Trump sold it to Russian businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev for $95 million, making more than double his money.
Despite winning the battle, the rivalry clearly left a bitter taste in Donald Trump's mouth. He later claimed he had barred Jeffrey Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago estate, and the pair were never photographed together again.
“He’s a real creep, I banned him," Trump is reported to have told his former aide, Sam Nunberg.
What has Trump said about the Epstein files?
Given Pam Bondi, the Attorney General in the United States, added fuel to the conspiracy theory fire when she said back in February that she had the Epstein client list "sitting on my desk right now to review [...] that's been a directive by President Trump", but has since rolled back and claimed there is no client list, Trump has spoken out to defend both himself and Bondi.
Via a Truth Social post on 12 July, the President wrote, "What’s going on with my ‘boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals?’ They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happened. We have a PERFECT administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and ‘selfish people’ are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein."
Continuing on and further urging his fan base to leave the Epstein saga alone, Trump added, "LET PAM BONDI DO HER JOB – SHE’S GREAT! One year ago our Country was DEAD, now it’s the ‘HOTTEST’ Country anywhere in the World. Let’s keep it that way, and not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about."
Bondi has since clarified she was not talking about a specific client list, but rather documents relating to the Epstein case and suicide in general.
In response to the post, Musk wrote on X, the social media site he owns, "Seriously, he said ‘Epstein’ half a dozen times while telling everyone to stop talking about Epstein. Just release the files as promised."
In an earlier Cabinet meeting on 8 July, Trump also appeared to try and deflect attention away from Epstein and the alleged client list when questioned, saying, "Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy has been talked about for years. We have Texas [floods], we have this, we have all of the things. Are people still talking about this guy, this creep? That is unbelievable. I can’t believe you’re asking a question on Epstein at a time like this. It just seems like a desecration."
Cat is Cosmopolitan UK's features editor covering women's issues, health and current affairs. news, features and health. The route to her heart is a simple combination of pasta and cheese (somewhat ironic considering the whole health writing thing), and she finds it difficult to commit to TV series so currently has about 14 different ones on the go.
Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK's multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her esteemed connections to access the best experts along the way. She's grilled everyone from high-profile politicians to A-list celebrities, and has sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their real life stories. In addition to this, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successfully petitioning the government for change around topics like abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary consultant (helping to create BBC’s Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and a patron for Y.E.S. (a youth services charity). Alongside Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women’s Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts, and spoken on (and hosted) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her spare time, Jennifer is a big fan of lipstick, leopard print and over-ordering at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
