Donald Trump said on Monday that the end of his long-documented friendship with serial sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has a clear explanation — he just doesn’t want to explain it.
Trump also said he “never had the privilege” of traveling to the deceased billionaire’s infamous island. Ok then.
Trump traveled to Turnberry, Scotland, to meet with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Though Trump’s ties to Epstein followed the president across the pond, with one reporter asking why the pair’s relationship ended. Trump said explaining would be a waste of time, though he carried on anyway.
“People can writing stories about the time you threw him out of Mar-A-Lago. Can you settle that? What was that about? What caused the breach with him?” a reporter asked.
“That’s such old history. Very easy to explain. I don’t want to waste your time by explaining it,” Trump said, “but, for years, I wouldn’t talk to Jeffrey Epstein. I wouldn’t talk because he did something inappropriate.”
Epstein has been investigated multiple times on charges of sex trafficking, sexual assault and rape of minors. These crimes, however, were not what caused the rift with Trump, according to the president. Instead it appears Trump was angry that Epstein poached one of his employees.
“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. I threw him out, and that was it. I’m glad I did, if you want to know the truth.”
Trump has long disputed the extent of his relationship with Epstein, especially as questions have ramped up in recent weeks. To this point, the White House claimed that Trump severed ties due to Epstein being a “creep,” not an employee poacher.
There has been an increased call on both sides of the aisle to release the Epstein files, with a Wall Street Journal report last week stating that Trump’s name is present multiple times. WSJ additionally found a letter Trump allegedly wrote to Epstein for his 50th birthday.
The birthday letter included the outline of a naked woman with Trump’s signature “mimicking pubic hair.” Trump again asserted that this letter was not his own, as he does not “do drawings of women,” according to a clip shared by Aaron Rupar on X.
Trump carried on in the press conference by again stating that he never visited Epstein’s island, though he mentioned others who allegedly had — Bill Clinton and Larry Summers.
“I never had the privilege of going to his island,” Trump said.
