US President Donald Trump on Monday defended his decision to sever ties with Jeffrey Epstein, saying he “threw him out” of his Mar-a-Lago club after Epstein twice “stole people that worked for me.”
President Trump spoke at his golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, while sitting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. When asked why his relationship with Epstein ended, Trump said, “That’s such old history, very easy to explain, but I don’t want to waste your time by explaining it.” He then explained, saying he stopped talking to Epstein after “he did something that was inappropriate.”
According to Trump, the relationship soured when Epstein hired away employees from Trump’s organisation without permission. “He hired help and I said, ‘Don’t ever do that again.’ He did it again, and I threw him out of the place, persona non grata,” the President said. “He stole people that worked for me. I said, ‘Don’t ever do that again.’”
A White House communications statement last week had offered different version. “The fact is that the President kicked him out of his club for being a creep,” quipped Steven Cheung, White House communications director.
Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting sextrafficking charges, remained a recurring headache for the administration. Trump and senior aides had initially fuelled conspiracy theories around Epstein’s death, but the Justice Department recently affirmed it was a suicide and declined to release further documents. Trump had said back in 2019 that Epstein was a fixture in Palm Beach but that the two had had a falling-out a long time ago and he hadn’t spoken with Epstein for 15 years.
Trump has directed Attorney GeneralPam Bondi “to seek the public release of sealed grand jury transcripts.” One federal judge has already denied that request, and a second ruling is pending.
Trump also dismissed reports that he contributed a personal note to a compilation marking Epstein’s 50th birthday, joking, “I don’t do drawings of women, that I can tell you.”
– Ends
With inputs from Associated Press
Tune In