When he turned 50, Epstein was already wealthy from managing Wexner’s fortune and was socializing with Trump, Clinton and other powerful people at his Manhattan townhouse, Palm Beach, Fla., home and private Caribbean island.
A spokesman for Clinton referred to a 2019 statement that former President Clinton had cut off ties more than a decade before Epstein’s second arrest and didn’t know about Epstein’s alleged crimes.
Epstein and Trump spent time together in the 1990s and early 2000s and were photographed at social events, including with Maxwell and Melania Trump. A 1992 tape from the NBC archives shows Trump partying with Epstein at his Mar-a-Lago estate; Trump is seen pulling a woman toward him and patting her behind.
Trump, along with others including Clinton, also appeared several times on flight logs for Epstein’s private jet.
A 2002 New York magazine profile of Epstein quoted Trump. “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Trump said. “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.”
Both men said that they subsequently had a falling-out. Trump has said their friendship ended before Epstein pleaded guilty to procuring a minor for prostitution in 2008, served time in a Florida jail and registered as a sex offender.
When Epstein was arrested again in 2019, Trump said he hadn’t talked to Epstein for about 15 years. “I knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him,” Trump said in the Oval Office at that time. “I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you.”
Trump’s spokeswoman told the Journal in 2023 that Trump had banned Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago club at some point in the past, without elaborating.
Maxwell, a British socialite, was convicted in 2021 of helping Epstein’s sex-trafficking and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Maxwell didn’t respond to a letter requesting an interview sent to her in prison. Arthur Aidala, an attorney representing Maxwell in her appeal, said, “At this point, she is focused on her case before the Supreme Court of the United States.”
President Trump criticized a reporter's question about Jeffrey Epstein at a cabinet meeting on July 8.
The FBI’s Epstein files
Epstein’s associations with Trump and many powerful people have been well documented. There remain questions about what the FBI possesses about Epstein and his well-connected friends. In 2019, the FBI confiscated evidence from Epstein’s properties in the U.S. Virgin Islands and New York.
Earlier Tuesday, after the Journal sought comment from the president about the letter, Trump told reporters at the White House that he believed some Epstein files were “made up” by former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden and former FBI Director James Comey.
He said that releasing any more Epstein files would be up to Attorney General Pam Bondi. “Whatever she thinks is credible, she should release,” Trump said.
Allegations that bureaucrats covered up Epstein’s connections with participants in his trafficking scheme were fanned by people now in top roles in the Trump administration, including FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino.
In June 2024, Trump was asked in a Fox News interview whether he would release the Epstein case files. The Republican presidential candidate initially responded, “Yeah, I would.” But he also expressed some reservations. “You don’t want to affect people’s lives if it’s phony stuff in there, because it’s a lot of phony stuff with that whole world. But I think I would.”
Soon after she was confirmed as attorney general, Bondi said she was preparing to release new Epstein files. In late February, Bondi announced the release of “Phase 1” of the documents. But the material contained few new revelations, drawing criticism from right-wing influencers.
Rogan O'Handley, Chaya Raichik, Liz Wheeler, and Jack Posobiec at the White House holding binders titled "The Epstein Files: Phase 1".
Attorney General Pam Bondi released documents on the Epstein case in February. Above, conservative influencers at the White House with the documents. Photo: Evan Vucci/Associated Press
Bondi initially blamed the FBI’s New York office for withholding information and promised to release the remaining documents after redacting the victim’s names. Patel also said, “There will be no coverups, no missing documents and no stone left unturned.” They tasked hundreds of FBI employees to review the materials and prepare them for release.
The issue took on new life in June when Elon Musk, amid a public feud with Trump, alleged that the FBI was withholding documents from the Epstein case because Trump was in the files.
“The truth will come out,” Musk wrote on X on June 5. He later deleted the message and said he regretted some of his comments.
On July 7, the Justice Department backtracked on Bondi’s pledge to release more Epstein files. The Justice Department said that after an “exhaustive review” it had found no “incriminating client list” or additional documents that warrant public disclosure.
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee demanded this week that Republican Chairman Jim Jordan hold hearings on the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files and, if necessary, subpoena Bondi, Patel and Bongino.
At a cabinet meeting on July 8, Trump criticized a reporter for asking about Epstein. “Are people still talking about this guy, this creep?” Trump said. “That is unbelievable. Do you want to waste the time?”
That same day, Musk wrote on X: “How can people be expected to have faith in Trump if he won’t release the Epstein files?”
Write to Khadeeja Safdar at
khadeeja.safdar@wsj.com and Joe Palazzolo at
