What Trump has said about Epstein through the years, from 'terrific guy' to 'creep' that 'nobody cares about'
'I don't understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody,' Trump told reporters earlier this week. 'It's pretty boring stuff. It's sordid, but it's boring, and I don't understand why it keeps going.'
But the president's own words through the years might help explain the fixation.
October 2002: Trump calls Epstein a 'terrific guy'
Long before he became president, Trump was friends with Epstein, who, like him, owned homes in New York and Palm Beach, Fla., and liked, as he put it, 'beautiful women.'
'I've known Jeff for 15 years,' Trump told New York Magazine for a 2002 profile of Epstein. 'Terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.'
July 2019: Trump says he's 'not a fan'
In July 2019, during Trump's first term in office, Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges. Asked about his relationship with Epstein, the president distanced himself, saying he was 'not a fan.'
'Well, I knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him,' Trump told reporters following Epstein's arrest. 'I mean, people in Palm Beach knew him. He was a fixture in Palm Beach. I had a falling out with him a long time ago. I don't think I've spoken to him for 15 years. I wasn't a fan. I was not, yeah, a long time ago, I'd say maybe 15 years. I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you. I was not a fan of his."
August 2019: Trump suggests Bill Clinton may have been involved in Epstein's death
A month later, after Epstein died in federal custody while awaiting trial, Trump retweeted a post that claimed without evidence that former President Bill Clinton was somehow involved.
Asked about the claim, Trump called for a 'full investigation' into Epstein's death.
"What we're saying is we want an investigation,' Trump told reporters. 'I want a full investigation, and that's what I absolutely am demanding."
The president directed then-Attorney General William Barr to lead the probe. Barr later said he agreed with the conclusion of the New York City medical examiner, who ruled the death a suicide.
August 2020: Trump fuels more conspiracy theories
During the 2020 presidential campaign, Trump continued to echo conspiracy theories pushed by some of his supporters who claim that Epstein was murdered to conceal the names of powerful people on a secret 'client list.'
'People are still trying to figure out how did it happen," Trump said in an interview with Axios. "Was it suicide? Was he killed?'
August 2023: Trump says 'it's possible' Epstein was killed, but 'probably committed suicide'
In an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Trump was asked if it was possible Epstein had been killed.
"Oh, sure, it's possible,' Trump replied before quickly adding: 'I mean, I don't really believe — I think he probably committed suicide. He had a life with, you know, beautiful homes and beautiful everything. And he all of a sudden is incarcerated and not doing very well. I would say that he did. But there are those people. There are many people, I think you're one of them, right? But a lot of people think that he was killed. He knew a lot of and a lot of people.'
2024 campaign: Trump says he'd consider releasing Epstein files as president
During the 2024 campaign, Trump said he would consider releasing additional government files on Epstein.
In an interview with Fox News in June of that year, Trump was asked if he would commit to releasing government files related to the John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. assassinations in addition to Epstein's death.
"Would you declassify the Epstein files?" Fox News' Rachel Campos-Duffy asked.
"Yeah, yeah, I would,' Trump initially responded.
He then clarified: "I don't know about Epstein so much as I do the others. Certainly about the way he died. It'd be interesting to find out what happened there, because that was a weird situation and the cameras didn't happen to be working, etc., etc. But yeah, I'd go a long way toward that one."
In a September podcast interview with Lex Fridman, Trump called speculation about an Epstein client list "very interesting" and he'd 'probably' release it.
'I'd certainly take a look at it,' Trump said, before comparing the Epstein case to the Kennedy assassination.
'Now, Kennedy's interesting because it's so many years ago," Trump said. "They [classify] that for danger too, because it endangers certain people, etc., etc. So Kennedy is very different from the Epstein thing, but I'd be inclined to do the Epstein. I'd have no problem with it."
2025: Trump fumes over focus on 'the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax'
After Trump took office, he directed the Justice Department to conduct an exhaustive review of the evidence collected on Epstein.
Appearing on Fox News in February, Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Epstein client list was 'sitting on my desk right now to review.'
'That's been a directive by President Trump,' she added.
But Trump himself didn't say much about the Epstein probe until last week, when the DOJ and FBI released a two-page memo concluding Epstein had no 'client list' and that he 'committed suicide in his cell.'
'One of our highest priorities is combating child exploitation and bringing justice to victims,' the FBI and DOJ said. 'Perpetuating unfounded theories about Epstein serves neither of those ends.' The memo triggered the recent backlash among Trump's longtime supporters.
During a Cabinet meeting on July 8, Trump bristled at a reporter's question about the Epstein memo.
"Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?" Trump said. "This guy's been talked about for years. You're asking. We have Texas [flooding], we have this. We have all of the things. And are people still talking about this guy, this creep? That is unbelievable."
On Saturday, Trump released a lengthy statement expressing his frustration over the Epstein saga.
'We're on one Team, MAGA, and I don't like what's happening,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and 'selfish people' are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein. For years, it's Epstein, over and over again.
'One year ago our Country was DEAD, now it's the 'HOTTEST' Country anywhere in the World,' he added. 'Let's keep it that way, and not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about.'
Then on Wednesday, Trump lashed out at his supporters while repeatedly referring to the case as 'the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax.'
'My PAST supporters have bought into this 'bullshit,' hook, line, and sinker,' the president fumed on a Truth Social post. 'All these people want to talk about, with strong prodding by the Fake News and the success starved Dems, is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax.'
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