Donald Trump denied ever visiting Jeffrey Epstein’s private Caribbean island, where many of the late financier’s alleged sex crimes were committed
“I never had the privilege of going to his island,” the president told reporters on Monday. “In one of my very good moments, I turned it down”
Trump, who was a longtime friend to Epstein, has come under fire for his administration’s handling of evidence related to the convicted sex offender’s 2019 trafficking case
Donald Trump is denying that he ever visited Jeffrey Epstein’s private island.
During a bilateral meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday, July 28, the U.S. president claimed he never set foot on the convicted sex offender’s island, Little Saint James, where many of Epstein’s alleged crimes were committed.
Trump’s comment comes as his administration faces increased pressure for more transparency regarding Epstein’s 2019 child sex trafficking case.
Trump told reporters on Monday he had been invited to Epstein’s island, but rejected his friend’s offer.
“I never had the privilege of going to his island, and I did turn it down, but a lot of people in Palm Beach were invited to his island,” Trump, 79, said. “In one of my very good moments, I turned it down, I didn’t want to go to his island.”
One reporter had previously asked what caused the breach in the two men’s friendship — which, Trump has claimed previously, ended before Epstein’s fall from grace — though Trump declined to get into specifics.
“That’s such old history — very easy to explain, but I don’t want to waste your time by explaining it,” he replied. “But for years I wouldn’t talk to Jeffrey Epstein. I wouldn’t talk because he did something that was inappropriate. He hired help, and I said, ‘Don’t ever do that again.’ He stole people that worked for me. I said, ‘Don’t ever do that again.’ He did it again, and I threw him out of the place. Persona non grata
Trump’s comments come days after a top official in the Department of Justice met with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former associate who was convicted on child sex trafficking charges in 2021 in relation to Epstein’s sex abuse.
On July 24, Maxwell — who is seeking to get her conviction overturned — reportedly told the DOJ about approximately 100 people with potential connections to Epstein.
Just one day prior, on July 23, The Wall Street Journal released a report which alleged that Attorney General Pam Bondi previously informed Trump of his repeated presence in the Epstein files and told him that the DOJ would halt further release of evidence. One week before WSJ’s report, when a reporter asked Trump if Bondi had ever told him that his name appeared in evidence, the president said no.
In response to the Journal’s report contradicting Trump’s answer, White House communications director Steven Cheung told the outlet, “This is another fake news story, just like the previous story by The Wall Street Journal.”
Trump is currently suing the outlet for $20 billion over its previous reporting, which the White House denies, that the president once drew a photo of a naked woman and wrote a cryptic message in a 50th birthday card to Epstein.
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The Trump administration has faced intense public and political scrutiny regarding its handling of Epstein’s evidence, which many members of the MAGA base believe would implicate a wide range of high-profile names.
Trump vowed on the 2024 campaign trail that he would seek to publicize more information about his crimes.