Why did Trump's stance on Epstein shift during his Scotland visit?
And by the end of the five-day Scotland swing the president had cracked open more secrets about his relationship with Epstein that he never discussed before. Trump arrived over the weekend in Scotland, the beloved land close to his heart where his mother was born, for a trip to his historic golf clubs culminating in a grand opening for his New Course in Aberdeen. The course has been affectionately dubbed MacLeod for his mother, who grew up in the outer Hebrides then emigrated to the U.S. as a young woman. She moved to New York and met Trump's father Fred, becoming a city socialite.
But Epstein's exploits hung like storm clouds over the president's trip as the most fervent media story of the week continued to gain strength. The Wall Street Journal had published a story on a 'bawdy' drawing Trump allegedly wrote for Epstein in 2003 - which he fervently denied and sued the publication for $10 billion. And his own Attorney General Pam Bondi was weathering a storm after it was reported she informed Trump his name was included in the Epstein files before promptly deciding to keep the rest of the documents hidden from the public.
Trump at first brushed off a first slew of Epstein questions as he traveled over from D.C. to the UK on Friday morning. He denied ever being briefed by Bondi that his name was in Epstein files, insisting 'no, I was never briefed.' And he also refused to rule out invoking his presidential pardon powers for Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell when asked. 'I'm allowed to do it, but it's something I haven't thought about,' he said, sparking amazed reaction from the political class. But two days later, a more relaxed and confident Trump was seen heading into his high-stakes meeting with another world leader - UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Trump had just clutched the 'biggest of them all' trade deals with the European Union hours before. Riding high having pocketed an international win, his mood lifted. Surrounded by family at the club he hadn't visited in years, including sons Don Jr., Eric, their significant others, and a slew of grandkids, Trump spent the weekend golfing. He was even in a position to make a play for bagging one of the world's premier golf tournaments. This daytime pleasure evidently lowered the president's temperature and set the stage for Trump to re-engage on the topic that has rattled his administration in recent weeks. On Monday, Trump staged a warm welcome for Prime Minister Kier Starmer outside the entrance to his Turnberry club. Their chat was almost impossible to hear over a bagpiper, but both men remarked on the 'beautiful' view of the coast.
Once inside, the flattery was more audible. Starmer primed the president by calling him a 'big investor in this area.' 'To put it mildly,' Trump responded - 'Like, this ballroom' – he lauded the ornate facility he had built from scratch and wants to reproduce at the White House. The room had a plush patterned curtains, sconces and draperies and ceiling-high views of the links – providing a preview of the luxurious state visit Trump is girding for with King Charles in September. Trump, 79, didn't golf Monday, but he looked to be at the top of his game after two successful days on the links – boasting about his swing by posting a video clip, and nailing a putt in another shared by his MAGA fans. (A caddy appeared to drop a ball for Trump on the fairway in yet another golf clip that went viral). It teed up a more relaxed Trump to talk – which is what he did, at length. For days, Trump had been trying to contain the Epstein story, admonishing reporters who asked about it, even as his former lawyer Todd Blanche, the Number Two DOJ official, sat for two days of interviews with Ghislaine Maxwell.
'Oh, you gotta be kidding about that,' Trump told scolded one scribe who asked about Epstein on Sunday while Trump was announcing a trade deal. 'No, I had nothing to do with it. Only you would make that – had nothing to do with it,' he chided. On Monday, when the Daily Mail first broached the subject at a press event that had touched on trade, Russia, Gaza, and golf, he showed no signs of irritation. Asked why he hadn't ruled out pardoning Maxwell, who is serving time for assisting Epstein as he recruited underage women, Trump responded that 'I'm allowed to give her a pardon.' 'Nobody's approached me with it. Nobody's asked me about it,' Trump said, quickly moving on. Later, another reporter asked Trump how he could say he was not included in the Epstein files at DOJ even though his attorney general would need to tell him if his name was included. That got Trump on one of his tirades, and elicited a glassy glare from senior aide Stephen Miller, seated nearby. 'It's a hoax, that's been built up way beyond proportion,' Trump said.
Trump was back in fighter mode. 'I can say this: those files were run by the worst scum on earth. They were run by Comey. They were run by Garland. They were run by Biden and all of the people that actually ran the government,' he said. Those were some of the same figures Trump accused of taking part in a different hoax, skewing information about Russia during the 2016 elections to manufacture a claim that he was Moscow's preferred candidate in the election. He had already been going for more than an hour, but kept talking. He once again denied drawing an alleged lewd sketch as part of a birthday book for Epstein, as described in a bombshell Wall Street Journal report, asserting he 'not a drawing person.' Then he layered in a new argument. He was in a 'very high position' at the time and it wouldn't make sense for him to do such a thing for Epstein. The president's most revealing answer came when the Daily Mail asked about an often-told incident about the time he cast Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club, and how the breach between the two former friends had occurred.
The break is central to Trump's case that he had become estranged from Epstein. He said in 2019 when Epstein was facing criminal charges that they hadn't spoken in 15 years. 'But for years I wouldn't talk to Jeffrey Epstein. I wouldn't talk to him. Because he did something that was inappropriate. He hired help. And I said: 'Don't ever do that again,' Trump said. '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,' Trump said. 'Glad I did if, you want to know the truth.' Trump didn't say exactly what it is that Epstein did, and if there was any more to the conduct than mere poaching. Communications Director Stephen Chung said last week that 'the fact is that the President kicked him out of his club for being a creep,' setting up a contradiction in explanations. Trump didn't divulge precisely when the spat happened or why is it that he was so adamant he did not want his staff members leaving to join Epstein, who was then a wealthy figure on the Palm Beach social scene.
Trump tried to deflect by pointing to prominent Democrats who showed up in the logs of Epstein's infamous 'Lolita express,' but unleashed a jarring answer phrased his reasoning this way. 'I never had the privilege of going to his island, and I did turn it down,' Trump said. 'But a lot of people in Palm Beach were invited to his island. In one of my very good moments, I turned it down. I didn't want to go to his island,' he said. And on his return trip back to the U.S., Trump revealed even more details about exactly who Epstein 'poached' from his staff, nudging the story into a new cycle.
He said Epstein 'stole' Virginia Giuffre (pictured) and several other young female workers at Mar-a-Lago's spa, leading to their falling out. 'She worked at the spa,' Trump noted of Giuffre. 'People were taken out of the spa hired by him.' He said he instructed Epstein he didn't want him taking his people. When Epstein did it again, Trump said he booted him for good. Left unsaid was whether he knew about any 'creepy' Epstein behavior on his own premises. Giuffre said she was recruited by Ghislaine Maxwell to Epstein's ring in 2000, when she was 16 years old and working as a locker room attendant at the spa at Mar-a-Lago.
Before her death earlier this year, Giuffre was one of the most prominent and vocal accusers of Epstein and Maxwell. None of Trump's efforts to date, from soft-pedalling to media clap-backs, to his lengthy explanations, have managed to tamp down the story. And now Trump's own lawyers are fanning it as they build their case. On Monday, they moved to quickly depose Rupert Murdoch in Trump's $20 billion lawsuit after a bombshell Wall Street Journal report that Trump drew a lewd picture for an Epstein birthday book. They said Murdoch, 94, 'is believed to have suffered recent significant health scares' and suggested he might not be around to deliver in-person testimony later in a trial. With Trump back on U.S. soil, the questions surrounding Epstein and Maxwell aren't going anywhere. It may require a trip to a stateside golf course.
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