Women claiming to be Epstein victims describe close friendship between dead financier and Trump
What was Donald Trump’s relationship to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and what did the president know about the crimes and allegations surrounding a man Trump once considered a “terrific guy?”
Those questions have been at the center of long-running investigations into allegations and conspiracy theories that the late financier, who died in federal jail awaiting trial on trafficking charges, was intimately connected to a wider network of powerful figures who preyed on young women and girls.
Including previously unreported allegations shedding light on their relationship, The New York Times interviewed more than 30 former Epstein employees and women who identified as victims of his and Trump’s abuse before the men fell out of friendship on their respective paths to the presidency and a litany of federal charges.
At least six women groomed or abused by Epstein or his associate Ghislaine Maxwell were introduced to Trump, according court documents, witness testimony and interviews with The Times. One was a minor at the time. None have accused Trump of wrongdoing.
One woman who has not spoken publicly about her experience told the newspaper that Epstein had coerced her into attending four parties at his home, and that Trump was there for all of them. Epstein directed her to have sex with other male guests at two of those parties, she told The Times.
“I just think it was trophy hunting,” former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Stacey Williams told the newspaper.
Williams has alleged that Trump groped her in 1993 at Trump Tower while Epstein, whom she was dating at the time, watched. Trump has denied her account.
“I think Jeffrey liked that he had this Sports Illustrated model who had this name, and that Trump was pursuing me,” she said.
In candid interviews with Vanity Fair, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles described the pair’s relationship as “young, single playboys together.”
But in response to questions from The Times, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said “this fake news story, which is not worth the paper it’s printed on, is just another stale regurgitation of decades-old false allegations against President Trump.”
“The truth will remain the same no matter how many times The New York Times tries to change it,” she added. “President Trump did nothing wrong, and he kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago for being a creep.”
As they developed a friendship from the high-roller party scenes in the 1980s and served as one another’s wingman in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Epstein would often call Trump from his office and listen to the real estate mogul detail his sexual exploits, one of Epstein’s assistants told the newspaper.
With Trump on speakerphone, Epstein appeared to enjoy how uncomfortable it made her to overhear them, she said.
During one call in the 1990s, she recalled the men allegedly discussing a woman’s public hair and whether there was enough for Epstein to floss his teeth with.
Another employee who worked for Epstein throughout the 2000s remembered putting Trump on speaker as the men discussed beauty pageants and modeling shows. Another said Trump would often speak for so long that Epstein would leave the room while his friend was still talking.
The president has not been accused of sexually abusing young girls in connection to Epstein, and has repeatedly dismissed questions about his former friend as a politically motivated “hoax” against him.
But interviews and public records suggest that Trump had interacted socially with women who accused Epstein and Maxwell of abuse.
One woman identified in court records as Jane Doe alleged that Epstein took her to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in 1994 when she was 14. The woman was also among three minor victims who were allegedly abused by Maxwell in 1994 and 1997, according to prosecutors in her federal case. The woman also testified in that case that she competed in Trump’s Miss Teen USA pageant.
“This is a good one, right?” Epstein said to Trump, according to the woman’s separate federal complaint. That case ended in a settlement with Epstein’s estate.
In an email among those released by Congress last month, Epstein claimed he “gave” Trump a 20-year-old woman whom Epstein dated in the 1990s.
A separate Epstein employee from that era also recalled that Trump would occasionally send modeling cards to Epstein to peruse, like a menu, according to The Times.
In another message obtained by Congress, Epstein in 2019 wrote of Trump that “of course he knew about the girls,” though the full context of his email is unclear.
During a deposition in 2010, when asked whether he had ever socialized with Trump and girls under 18 years ago, Epstein invoked his constitutional right not to answer.
“Though I’d like to answer that question, at least today, I’m going to have to assert my Fifth, Sixth and 14th Amendment rights, sir,” he replied.
Despite their apparent failing out, Epstein continued to talk about the president in private, sharing messages with his friends and associates that his one-time wingman was “dirty,” “crazy,” “borderline insane” and “evil beyond belief,” according to emails shared with Congress.
Trump distanced himself from his former friend after Epstein’s arrest in 2019, when Trump was president.
“Well, I knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him,” Trump said on July 9, 2019, one day after Epstein’s arrest. “I mean, people in Palm Beach knew him. He was a fixture in Palm Beach. I had a falling out with him a long time ago. I don’t think I’ve spoken to him for 15 years. I wasn’t a fan.”
Asked three days later what contributed to that “falling out,” Trump said “the reason doesn’t make any difference, frankly.”
One month later, Epstein was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City.
The new reporting comes as the Department of Justice faces a deadline to release potentially tens of thousands of documents from cases connected to Epstein and Maxwell.
A timeline for the release of those documents has dominated the president’s second term after he pledged during his campaign to release them.
In July, the Justice Department determined “no further disclosure” in the Epstein case “would be appropriate or warranted,” which only fueled demands for the release of the so-called Epstein files.
Last month, Trump agreed to sign a measure that compels the Justice Department to release them by Friday.
