Here Are the Sordid Details of Jeffrey Epstein’s Visits to Donald Trump’s Florida Home Mar-A-Lago
After the release of controversial documents detailing the friends and acquaintances of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, connections are being made between Epstein and other popular figures. Former President Donald Trump and his Florida residence Mar-a-Lago feature in the court documents almost 13 times.
The documents were made public on December 3 during court proceedings of a defamation case filed by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's victims, against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former partner. Maxwell, a British socialite, is already serving a 20-year prison sentence after being found guilty on five counts, including sex trafficking a minor.
Trump and Epstein had a long-standing friendship, though its length and depth were disputed. Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort appears 13 times in the court records, per Newsweek including an interview with Maxwell in which she denies ever being a Mar-a-Lago member but says she did visit and is "pretty sure" she was there in 2000. Giuffre was employed by Mar-a-Lago in 2000 "as a locker room attendant for the spa area."
During her trial, one of the four women who said Maxwell had started grooming them for sex when she was just 14 alleged that Epstein had brought her to meet Trump at his Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago club in the 1990s. "Mr. Epstein introduced you to Donald Trump, correct," she was asked, and she replied "Yes," but didn't accuse Trump himself of any inappropriate behavior.
Florida businessman George Houraney stated in a 2019 interview with The New York Times that he had hosted a "calendar girl" competition at Mar-a-Lago in 1992 at Trump's request and was shocked to learn that the former president and Epstein were the only visitors who had been invited. He commented: "I arranged to have some contestants fly in. At the very first party, I said, 'Who's coming tonight? I have 28 girls coming.' It was him and Epstein. I said, 'Donald, this is supposed to be a party with V.I.P.s. You're telling me it's you and Epstein?'"
There is disagreement over whether Epstein was ever a part of Mar-a-Lago. The writers of The Grifter's Club: Trump, Mar-a-Lago, and the Selling of the Presidency, claim they were given a registry of Mar-a-Lago members dating back more than ten years, which established Epstein's status as a full member of the club.
Co-author Sarah Blaskey said in a Miami Herald piece that she was informed by Trump that Epstein's membership was revoked after he "harassed" a member's daughter. She revealed, "The way this person described it, such an act could irreparably harm the Trump brand, leaving Donald no choice but to remove Epstein."
Nevertheless, in 2019, a representative of the Trump Organization refuted Epstein's membership at Mar-a-Lago, as reported by CNBC News. Then-President Trump attempted to distance himself from Epstein after his conviction. He mentioned the disgraced banker, saying, "I had a falling out with him. I haven't spoken to him in 15 years. I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you."
