Trump Says He Declined Epstein's Invitation to Visit His Island: ‘I Never Had the Privilege of Going'
As part of a continued effort by Mr. Trump to distract, deny and deflect from his long-running relationship with Mr. Epstein, the president vigorously denied that he had ever visited Mr. Epstein's private islands in the Caribbean, while in the same breath baselessly accusing his predecessor, former President Bill Clinton, of visiting the islands, his latest bid at conspiracy deflection.
'I never went to the island, and Bill Clinton went there supposedly' a number of times, Mr. Trump said during a trip to Scotland. Mr. Epstein owned two islands in the U.S. Virgin Islands — Little St. James and Great St. James, where he entertained famous friends and allegedly trafficked underage girls for sex.
He continued, '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. In one of my very good moments, I turned it down.'
Mr. Clinton has denied visiting the islands or having any knowledge of Mr. Epstein's criminal behavior, and has said he wishes he had never met him. When asked about Mr. Trump's accusations, an aide to Mr. Clinton pointed to that original denial, adding that it had been 20 years since Mr. Clinton had been in contact with Mr. Epstein.
In 2002, Mr. Clinton had flown on a private jet owned by Mr. Epstein as part of a visit to Africa — a trip which brought a flurry of media attention — but the former president has not been linked by prosecutors or officials to any of the criminal accusations against Mr. Epstein. Between 1993 and 1997, while Mr. Trump and Mr. Epstein remained friendly, Mr. Trump's name appeared seven times in Mr. Epstein's flight logs.
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Trump's politically motivated sanctions against Brazil strain relations among old allies
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The message was clear earlier, when Donald Trump described Bolsonaro's prosecution by Brazil's Supreme Court as a 'witch hunt' — using the same phrase he has employed for the numerous investigations he has faced since his first term. Bolsonaro faces charges of orchestrating a coup attempt to stay in power after losing the 2022 election to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. A conviction could come in the next few months. The U.S. has a long history of meddling with the affairs of Latin American governments, but Trump's latest moves are unprecedented, said Steven Levitsky, a political scientist at Harvard University. 'This is a personalistic government that is adopting policies according to Trump's whims,' Levitsky said. Bolsonaro's sons, he noted, have close connections to Trump's inner circle. 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Marjorie Taylor Greene asks Trump to commute George Santos' prison sentence
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