Trump and Epstein: Years of Acquaintance, Joint Parties, and Dozens of Documented Contacts

On Wednesday, November 12, House Democrats released emails from Jeffrey Epstein, convicted of sexual offenses, discussing his acquaintance with President Trump—an acquaintance Trump has consistently sought to downplay.

Interest in these materials emerged against the backdrop of a rare rift within part of his MAGA base: over the summer their reaction was sharply negative, but it later subsided after the publication of Epstein’s so-called “birthday book.” As far back as 2019, Trump assured reporters that he and Epstein had fallen out and had not spoken for 15 years. Yet in a 2002 interview he spoke of Epstein in positive terms and stressed that he had known him for more than a decade, even though he later claimed the relationship had ended.

The president has repeatedly dismissed what he calls “the Jeffrey Epstein hoax.” Even so, the episode has angered many of his political supporters and spilled into Congress. “It’s all a big hoax,” he insisted in July. “It’s driven by the Democrats, and some foolish Republicans are walking right into the trap and effectively working for the Democrats.”

In September, what appeared to be Trump’s contribution to Epstein’s “birthday book” surfaced publicly, despite persistent denials from the president and his allies that any such entry existed. A hint of an intimate tone and an explicit drawing accompanied by a signature resembling Trump’s forced the White House and his spokespeople to issue firm rebuttals once again.

In an interview with New York Magazine published on October 28, 2002, Trump described Epstein as “a terrific guy” he had known for 15 years. “It’s great being with him. They even say he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are quite a bit younger. No doubt, Jeffrey loved the social scene,” he said at the time.

Earlier episodes are also documented: according to the Washington Post, Trump hosted a party at Mar-a-Lago in 1992, inviting NFL cheerleaders and Epstein himself. In 2019, NBC released archival footage showing Trump and Epstein socializing at the event; the network noted that the footage was recorded well before Epstein pleaded guilty to prostitution charges in Florida.

They also appeared together in photographs on multiple occasions. In 2000, the Washington Post reported that Trump, Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein and the future first lady were photographed at Mar-a-Lago. According to materials presented at Maxwell’s trial, Trump’s name appeared seven times in Epstein’s flight logs during the 1990s, though many other prominent figures were mentioned as well.

According to a detailed Washington Post investigation published in 2019, Trump and Epstein competed in 2004 to buy a waterfront mansion in Palm Beach. Trump ultimately offered a higher price and secured the property. The paper noted that it remains unclear whether the two maintained contact after that episode.

In March 2005, police were informed that a minor had allegedly been paid to give Epstein a massage. In 2006 he was charged, and later pleaded guilty to two felony counts.

After Epstein’s arrest and indictment in 2019, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during his first term that he had not been a “fan” of Epstein. “He was a fixture in Palm Beach. We had a falling-out many years ago. I think I hadn’t spoken to him in about 15 years. I was not a fan,” he said at the time.

After Epstein’s death in 2019, Trump amplified a conspiracy theory on social media that falsely linked Epstein’s demise to the Clintons. Later, responding to questions about his controversial retweets, he told reporters he wanted a “full investigation.”

At a 2020 briefing, Trump said he was not following the Maxwell case closely. “I honestly wish her well,” he said. “I’ve met her many times over the years, especially when I lived in Palm Beach, and from what I understand, they lived in Palm Beach as well.”

After Trump returned to the White House in 2025, his Justice Department released more than 100 pages of documents related to Epstein. The department said Attorney General Pam Bondi had instructed FBI Director Kash Patel to determine why “the request for all documents had not been fulfilled.”

The Justice Department and the FBI concluded that they had no evidence Epstein had blackmailed powerful individuals, kept a “client list” or had been murdered.

As public attention to the issue grew, the president urged his supporters not to “waste time” discussing Epstein—“a man nobody cares about.” On July 16, he distanced himself from “former supporters” who had embraced what he called “the Jeffrey Epstein hoax.” Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said that those who continued to discuss “the Epstein hoax” were “effectively working for the Democrats” and were “fools.”

The next day, the Wall Street Journal published an exclusive report about a “frivolous” congratulatory letter to Epstein bearing Trump’s signature. The president vowed on Truth Social to sue the paper, calling the report “false, malicious and defamatory.”

He instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to petition the court to release all relevant grand jury testimony in the Epstein case, writing: “This HOAX pushed by the Democrats must end immediately!”

House Democrats released a typed congratulatory letter Trump had allegedly prepared for Epstein in 2003. MAGA influencers and the White House insisted the signature at the bottom was a forgery.

Yet, as a New York Times investigation noted, the letter’s closing line resembled Trump’s personal correspondence from various years rather than his formal presidential autograph. The “birthday book” was submitted to the House Oversight Committee as part of a broader set of documents.

The same batch of materials included an image of Epstein holding an oversized check; the caption read: “Epstein and a longtime Mar-a-Lago member joke about selling Trump a ‘fully depreciated’ woman for $22,500.”

On November 12, House Democrats released emails indicating that Trump may have known more about Epstein’s behavior than he acknowledged publicly.

A 2011 email claimed that Trump spent “hours” at Epstein’s home in the company of an individual whose name was redacted and marked as “VICTIM.” A 2019 email, sent from an address associated with Epstein, told journalist Michael Wolff that Trump “of course knew about the girls, because he asked Ghislaine to stop.”