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7 Dec 2025 5:00
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  •   Home > News > International

    What we know about the ties between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein

    Years-old emails from Jeffrey Epstein mentioning Donald Trump have been released, raising new questions about the extent of their relationship. Here's what we know about the ties between them.


    Years-old emails from Jeffrey Epstein mentioning Donald Trump have been released, raising new questions about the extent of their relationship.

    The emails were obtained by Democratic members of a congressional committee who say they suggest Trump spent "hours" with one of Epstein's accusers.

    The president has repeatedly denied he knew of Epstein's trafficking and sexual abuse of girls and claims he ended the friendship 15 years ago.

    Trump's first year in office has been marred by pressure to release the so-called Epstein files and the emergence of documents that his opponents say prove he has been hiding the truth about his relationship with Epstein.

    So here's what we know so far about their friendship.

    What are Trump's connections to Epstein?

    While there is no publicly available evidence suggesting Trump was involved in illegal activity with Epstein, it is well-known the pair were friends for almost 20 years.

    There are photographs of Epstein and Trump taken at parties in the 1990s and early 2000s.

    A few years ago, NBC released footage of the pair at a party in 1992, which the US publication says appears to show them laughing and discussing young women.

    In 2002, Trump told the New York Magazine that he'd "known Jeff for 15 years" and described him as a "terrific guy".

    "He's a lot of fun to be with," Trump said at the time.

    "It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side."

    Trump flew on Epstein's private jet at least seven times in the 1990s, according to documents released as part of the trial of Epstein's association with Ghislaine Maxwell.

    Throughout the 1990s, Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein were photographed together a number of times.

    Sometimes the pair were pictured with Ghislaine Maxwell.

    The fallout

    Trump told media in July he fell out with Epstein because the financier "stole" young women, including accuser Virginia Giuffre, from his club in Mar-a-Lago.

    "People were taken out of the [Mar-a-Lago] spa, hired by him, in other words, gone," Trump said.

    "When I heard about it, I told him, I said, 'Listen, we don't want you taking our people.'

    "And then, not too long after that, he did it again. And I said, 'Out of here.'"

    The White House has said previously that Trump threw Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club two decades ago "for being a creep", and US media have reported that they became estranged over a Florida real estate deal.

    The Birthday Letter

    Since Epstein's conviction and death, Trump has often made comments attempting to distance himself from Epstein and downplay their friendship.

    The ties between them were brought back into the spotlight when, in July, the Wall Street Journal published a sexually suggestive birthday letter sent to Epstein in 2003 bearing the current president's name.

    The note, compiled by imprisoned Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, is inserted into the sketched outline of a nude woman and consists of a short dialogue between "Donald" and "Jeffrey".

    "We have certain things in common," says Donald, to which Jeffrey responds: "Yes, we do, come to think of it."

    "Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?" Donald asks.

    "As a matter of fact, it was clear to me the last time I saw you," Jeffrey says.

    "A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret," the note ends, followed by Mr Trump's signature, which takes the place of pubic hair on the nude outline.

    Trump filed a libel lawsuit against Newscorp and Rupert Murdoch for publishing the letter and vehemently denied it was from him.

    Then, in September, Democrats on the US House Oversight Committee released the letter on social media after it was delivered by Epstein's estate.

    Trump again denied its authenticity.

    "It's not my signature and it's not the way I speak," Trump told reporters.

    The White House said it would support forensic analysis of Trump's signature on Epstein's birthday letter.

    The Emails

    The three latest emails to be released were labelled a "hoax" by the president.

    The first of the emails shows an exchange between Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his partner and co-offender, who is now in prison for helping him abuse underage girls.

    The exchange is dated April 2, 2011 — years after Trump and Epstein had purportedly ended their friendship.

    In the first email, which contains multiple typos, Epstein wrote to Maxwell:

    "I want you to realize that that dog that hasn't barked is trump.. [Redacted victim's name] spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned. police chief. etc. im 75 % there."

    Republicans are saying the victim referred to in the email was Giuffre, and that they therefore should not imply any guilt because she maintained he never abused her.

    The second email released was between Trump biographer Michael Wolff and Epstein.

    Epstein wrote that "of course" Trump "knew about the girls".

    The third email shows an earlier exchange between Epstein and Wolff, dated December 15, 2015.

    In an email with the subject "heads up", Wolff wrote to Epstein about CNN planning to ask Trump about his relationship to him.

    Epstein wrote about "crafting an answer".

    Read more about those emails here.

    Trump says the move is part of a "hoax" designed to distract from the "massive damage" caused by the US government's shutdown.

    Did Trump know Virginia Giuffre?

    Yes.

    Giuffre wrote that she and her father both worked for Trump at his Florida resort club, Mar-a-Lago.

    She said her father had introduced her to the businessman and said he "couldn't have been friendlier".

    Giuffre, who died by suicide earlier this year, long insisted that Trump was not among the men who had abused her.

    She said she only ever met Trump once when she worked as a spa attendant at his club, which contradicts Republican suggestions it was her name that had been redacted from the email.

    © 2025 ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved

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