Trump says he cut ties with Jeffrey Epstein because he 'stole people that worked for me'
President Donald Trump said he cut ties with former friend Jeffrey Epstein years ago because the wealthy financier and sex offender "stole people that worked for me."
WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump said he cut ties with Jeffrey Epstein because the wealthy financier and sex offender hired workers away from him.
Trump discussed his past falling out with Epstein with reporters in Turnberry, Scotland during a July 28 meeting with United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
"For years, I wouldn't talk to Jeffrey Epstein. I wouldn't talk. Because he did something that was inappropriate: He hired help," Trump said when asked what caused their rift and Trump to exile Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago Florida resort. "And I said, 'Don't ever do that again.' He stole people that worked for me."
Trump did not say when his split with Epstein first began. The two men were friends in the 1990s and early 2000s and Epstein attended Trump's 1999 wedding to Marla Maples.
Trump said when Epstein ignored his warning and hired his workers anyway, "I threw him out of the place ‒ persona non grata."
"I threw him out, and that was it. I'm glad I did, if you know the truth," Trump said. "And by the way, I never went to the island," Trump added, referring to an island in the Caribbean Island where Epstein was found to have sexually abused underage girls.
Trump's account contradicts a recent statement from the White House that Trump "kicked (Epstein) out of his club for being a creep."
Trump's remarks came as he continues to face a backlash over his administration's refusal to release all documents in the government's case against Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 in a New York federal jail while facing charges. The White House has acknowledged Trump’s name is mentioned in the Epstein files but denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's most outspoken victims who died by suicide in April, said Epstein's procurer and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell recruited her into Epstein's circle she was a 16-year-old Mar-a-Lago locker room assistant.
The New York Times recently reported that former Epstein employee Maria Farmer told law enforcement in 1996 that she encountered Trump in Epstein's office and Epstein told Trump "No, no. She’s not here for you.”
Trump again does not rule out pardon of Ghislaine Maxwell
In Scotland, Trump again did not rule out pardoning Maxwell, who was interviewed for two days by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in a Tallahassee, Florida federal courthouse.
“Well, I'm allowed to give her a pardon, but nobody's approached me with it. Nobody's asked me about it,” Trump said. “It's in the news about that, that aspect of it, but right now, it would be inappropriate to talk about it.”
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in Epstein's alleged sex trafficking ring. The Justice Department has said Blanche interviewed Maxwell to learn about potential other individuals who committed crimes on connect to Epstein. Afterward, Maxwell's attorneys told reporters that she is seeking a pardon from Trump.
Trump also denied that he’d ever been to Epstein’s island.
“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 said. “In one of my very good moments, I turned it down. I didn't want to go to his island.”
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