Latest news with #VirginIslands
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump Tells Why He and Epstein Fell Out—and It Wasn't Over Child Sex
President Donald Trump says he 'never had the privilege' of going to Jeffrey Epstein's notorious child sex island and suggests the reason they fell out was because the disgraced financier stole his staff. As the political firestorm over the Epstein files continues, Trump told reporters in Scotland that he didn't talk to his old associate for years 'because he did something that was inappropriate,' which led to Epstein getting kicked out of Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. 'He hired help, and I said: 'Don't ever do that again',' the president explained on Tuesday. '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. I'm glad I did, if you want to know the truth.' The comments are the first time that the president has gone into such detail about his relationship with Epstein, who he spent nearly 15 years mingling with as public friends, attending everything from lavish dinners at Epstein's mansion in New York to wild parties with models and cheerleaders at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. But the president on Monday insisted that he had nothing to do with the notorious sex trafficker's crimes, and 'turned down' the chance to go to Little Saint James, the small private island in the US Virgin Islands that served as the base for Epstein's operations. 'I never had the privilege of going to his island,' 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.' Numerous stories about Trump and Epstein's falling out have surfaced over the years, from suggestions that Trump kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago for hitting on a member's child, to reports of a property dispute between the pair. The private Florida club also played a key role in allegations against Epstein by Virginia Giuffre, one of his victims, who alleged that she was working as a spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago as a teenager when Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell approached her and offered her a job as his masseuse. But despite being a known associate of the former financier, Trump played down suggestions that his name is in the Esptein files, claiming the files were a hoax 'run by the worst scum on earth,' such as former president Joe Biden, former FBI Director James Comey, and former Attorney General Merrick Garland. 'If they had anything, I assume they would have released it,' he said, even suggesting that people could 'easily put something in the files that's a phony'. He also rejected reports that he gave a letter and a lewd drawing to Epstein for his 50th birthday. According to the Wall Street Journal, the letter contained several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman with Trump's name mimicking pubic hair. But Trump, who has several drawings on the public record, told reporters: 'I don't do drawings. I'm not a drawing person… Sometimes people would say, 'Would you do a building?' And I'll draw four lines and a little roof, you know, for a charity. But I'm not a drawing person. I don't do drawings of women, that I can tell you.' Epstein died in a Manhattan jail in 2019 as he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges involving underage girls. In 2022, Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison on federal charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy for helping Epstein recruit and abuse underage girls. However, despite her heinous crimes, Maxwell last week met with Trump's Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, where they discussed '100 different people' related to the case, according to her lawyer David Markus. Trump has also not ruled out a pardon for Maxwell, something that would likely inflame tensions among his MAGA base. Asked about this on Monday, he replied: 'I'm allowed to give her a pardon, but nobody has approached me, nobody has asked me for it. It's in the news, but right now it would be inappropriate to talk about it.' Solve the daily Crossword
The Australian
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Australian
Trump says he turned down an offer to visit Jeffrey Epstein's private island
Donald Trump says he turned down an offer to travel to Jeffrey Epstein's private island, where the convicted sex offender was known to have abused underage girls, describing it as 'one of my very good moments.' The US President was forced to explain – on the world stage – the nature of his own relationship with the disgraced financier, who committed suicide in 2019 at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre in New York where he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. Elements of the MAGA base have turned on Mr Trump after his administration refused to release the files from the investigation into Epstein and dismissed the existence of a 'client list', with the President describing the issue as a 'hoax'. Speaking alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at his Turnberry resort on the west coast of Scotland, Mr Trump explained that he fell out with Epstein and banned him from his Mar-a-Lago resort because he 'stole people that worked for me'. He also made clear that he never travelled to Epstein's private island in the US Virgin Islands. 'I never went to the island,' Mr Trump said. 'And Bill Clinton went there supposedly 28 times. I never went to the island, but (former US Treasury secretary) Larry Summers I hear went there … and many other people that are very big people. Nobody ever talks about them. I never had the privilege of going to his island. And I did turn it down. 'In one of my very good moments, I turned it down. I didn't want to go to his island.' Mr Trump has become increasingly frustrated at the ongoing interest in his connections with Epstein and the interest in the 'Epstein files', declaring 'I haven't been overly interested in it. It's a hoax that's been built up way beyond proportion'. The President said that if there was anything that reflected negatively on him in the Epstein files, the previous administration would have released it all before the last election. 'Those files were run by the worst scum on Earth,' Mr Trump said. 'They were run by (former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation James) Comey. They were run by (former US attorney-general Merrick) Garland. They were run by (former president Joe) Biden. And all of the people that actually ran the government including the autopen. 'Those files were run for four years by those people. If they had anything I assume they would have released it. If they had anything why didn't they use it when I was killing Joe (Biden)? … If there was anything in there, they would have used them for the election.' Mr Trump said people were not buying into the issue, arguing that his poll numbers had gone up since his handling of the Epstein matter had come into public focus. He also continued to reject the substance of a report carried in The Wall Street Journal that said he penned a bawdy letter for an album marking Epstein's 50th birthday and contributed what also appeared to be the hand-drawn outline of a naked woman. The letter was reported to have concluded: 'Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.' Mr Trump, who is suing The Wall Street Journal for $US10bn ($15.3bn) over the story, continued to defend himself and declared that 'I don't do drawings'. 'I'm not a drawing person … I don't do drawings of women, that I can tell you. They say there's a drawing of a woman and I don't do drawings of women,' he said. 'Also, Epstein was always a very controversial guy. I was at a very high position. Pretty much all my life in all fairness. I've been doing this for a long time. I had the top show on television. I have the number one bestsellers. I had everything, right? And I was a very successful business guy. Who would do a controversial drawing? 'Now, with that being said, they say there were many letters done by many people.' Asked why he banned Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago resort at Florida's Palm Beach, Mr Trump said it was 'such old history. Very easy to explain. But I don't want to waste your time by explaining it'. 'For years I wouldn't talk to Jeffrey Epstein. I wouldn't talk. Because he did something that was inappropriate,' Mr Trump said. 'He hired help. And I said to him, 'don't ever do that again'. 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'm glad I did, if you want to know the truth.' In Florida, lawyers for Mr Trump asked a federal judge to expedite a deposition of Rupert Murdoch in the President's $10bn defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, citing the media baron's advanced age. His legal team asked District Judge Darrin Gayles to compel an 'expedited deposition'. Judge Gayles gave lawyers for Mr Murdoch until August 4 to respond. Read related topics: Donald Trump
RNZ News
4 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Donald Trump says he turned down invitation to Jeffrey Epstein's island
Composite image of Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump. Photo: AFP / NEW YORK STATE SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY/HANDOUT By Andrea Shalal and Nandita Bose , Reuters US President Donald Trump said on Monday he "never had the privilege" of visiting Jeffrey Epstein's island, saying he turned down an invitation from the convicted sex offender in what the president called a moment of good judgment. Trump's remarks were his latest effort to distance himself from the political furor over his administration's handling of files related to Epstein's case and renewed questions over his past relationship with the disgraced financier, who died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019. "I never had the privilege of going to his island, and I did turn it down," Trump told reporters during a trip to Scotland. "In one of my very good moments, I turned it down." Epstein owned a private island in the US Virgin Islands where he entertained prominent people from politics, business and entertainment. Prosecutors have alleged he used the compound to conceal the sex trafficking and abuse of under-age victims. Trump, who socialised with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s, also offered new insight into why their relationship ended. The president said he cut ties after Epstein attempted to recruit staff who worked for Trump. "He hired help. And I said, 'Don't ever do that again.' He stole people that work for me," Trump said. "He did it again. And I threw him out of the place persona non grata." Last week, White House communications director Steven Cheung said Trump had cut ties with Epstein because he regarded him as a "creep." The White House has been under growing pressure from Trump's supporters and political opponents to release more information about the Justice Department's investigation into Epstein. After Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this year promised to release additional materials related to possible Epstein clients and the circumstances surrounding his death, the Justice Department reversed course this month and issued a memo concluding there was no basis to continue investigating and no evidence of a client list. Those findings sparked an angry outcry from some of Trump's supporters who have long believed the government was covering up Epstein's ties to the rich and powerful. Trump's efforts to deflect attention from the case have so far faltered. On Monday, the president again called the story "a hoax." "It's a hoax that's been built up way beyond proportion," Trump said, saying Democrats controlled the Epstein files for several years and would have used them against him during the last presidential election if there was anything in them. Trump flew with Epstein aboard his plane at least six times, according to logs for flights spanning from 1991 through 2005. None of those trips were to Epstein's private island. Trump has denied ever being on the plane and has not been accused of any wrongdoing. - Reuters
Arab News
01-07-2025
- Science
- Arab News
What We Are Reading Today: ‘Wildlife of the Eastern Caribbean'
Author: STEVE HOLLIDAY AND GILL HOLLIDAY This is the first photographic field identification guide to Eastern Caribbean birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, land crabs, dragonflies, and butterflies. Beautiful and easy-to-use, the guide covers 17 island groups stretching from the Virgin Islands south through the Lesser Antilles, from Anguilla to Grenada, where a unique range of flora and fauna evolved in relative isolation. Around 30 percent of all the species included are endemic to the region.
Yahoo
22-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Newlywed couple's honeymoon in US Virgin Islands ends with her ICE detention
Taahir Shaikh needed headshots for his new job, so he set up an appointment with a photographer named Ward Sakeik. One appointment turned into three photo shoots, and the two just kept talking. Three years later, the newlywed couple was elated to go on their honeymoon. But after spending nine days in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the couple's trip ended with Sakeik, 22, being detained for what has become months in several U.S. immigration detention centers. Sakeik, whose family is from Gaza but is legally stateless, has lived in the U.S. since she was 8, when her family travelled to the U.S. on a tourist visa and applied for asylum, according to her husband. While she was issued a deportation order more than a decade ago, Sakeik was permitted to stay in the U.S. under what's known as an "order of supervision," in which she regularly checked in with federal immigration authorities and is permitted work authorization, according to her lawyer and husband. At the St. Thomas Airport, as the couple prepared to return home on Feb. 11, Sakeik was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection -- and has been held in custody in the months since. Then, last week, the government attempted to deport Sakeik without informing her where she was being sent, according to Shaikh. Sakeik says an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer told her she was being taken to the Israel border, he said. After she waited in the airport for two hours, she was sent back to Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, where she had recently been transferred. She later found out this was just hours before Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, Shaikh said. Now, facing a still uncertain future, his wife's family is "fearful beyond imagination," Shaikh, a U.S. citizen, told ABC News. "She's in a procedural black hole because she's not even eligible for a bond," Shaikh said. "They're saying 'when you were eight years old, you already were given your due process in court.' She doesn't even remember what a courtroom looks like." Sakeik does not have citizenship in any country, according to her lawyer, Waled Elsaban, and her husband. She was born in Saudi Arabia, which does not assign citizenship at birth to anyone who is not born to Saudi citizens. Sakeik, whose family is from the Gaza Strip, has never been to the Palestinian enclave, and she was not able to obtain legal status or citizenship from there either, her lawyer said. MORE: Tufts University doctoral student out of ICE custody after judge orders her release The family came to the U.S. 14 years ago, when she was just 8 years old, Shaikh said. "Fourteen years ago, my wife has no agency in the decision. She has no idea what's happening. All she knows is that they had refugee status in Saudi Arabia, they weren't given any level of citizenship [and] their work authorization was being stripped from Saudi Arabia," Shaikh said. The family came to the U.S. on travel visas and sought asylum, Shaikh said. Years later, Sakeik's asylum case was denied and she and her family were issued deportation orders. Since Saudi Arabia, Israel and neighboring countries were unwilling to accept Sakeik and her family, they were permitted to stay in the U.S. under an "order of supervision" -- a classification that provided them work permits. They were also required to regularly check in with ICE, according to Shaikh and Elsaban. In the years since she was denied asylum, Sakeik and her family have explored several pathways to obtain visas or citizenship in the U.S., including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and sponsorship, but they were unsuccessful, her husband said. "There's many stories very similar to my wife's case, where the local immigration courts have accepted it, and for whatever reason, whether it was the lawyer or the legal team at the time, whether it was just a matter of the judge that had their case on the docket, they were denied," Shaikh said. MORE: Israel-Iran live updates: Multiple B-2 stealth bombers head to Guam, sources say "My wife has tried every route to adjust her status. Now that she's finally at the finish line and she has a way to get lawful permanent residence, they stripped it from her," Shaikh said. The couple thought they had prepared for their honeymoon. Months before their wedding, under the Biden administration, the couple called an ICE processing center to ask if they could travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Shaikh said they were told they could. At the Dallas Fort Worth Airport, the morning of their trip in February, they also asked a Transportation Security Administration representative and an airline representative and were assured they could travel to the islands with just their U.S. driver's licenses, he said. After being detained at the St. Thomas Airport on their return trip, Shaikh said Sakeik was kept handcuffed on the plane to Miami, where the flight had a layover. The couple was not given a reason for her detention and was initially told she would be released from custody in Miami. There, the couple was separated. Sakeik was kept in Miami for three weeks before being sent to a detention center in Texas. Sakeik later told her husband she was shackled by the hands and legs as she walked through the airport, he said. Last week, after more than three months in custody, federal authorities moved to deport Sakeik, according to Shaikh and her attorney. On the morning of June 12, Sakeik was awakened and told she was being deported, according to her husband. After many detainees were rounded up, she was taken to the Fort Worth Alliance Airport, her husband said. MORE: Mahmoud Khalil thanks supporters after release, vows to continue advocating for Palestinians When she asked for travel documents or to be told where she was being taken, an officer told her she was being taken to the Israeli border, according to Shaikh. After waiting at the airport for two hours, Sakeik, four other Palestinians and an Egyptian man were returned to detention facilities, according to Shaikh. "An ICE officer [the next] morning came and said, 'The only reason your plane didn't come is because Israel bombed Iran last night, and there was a safety protocol that no flights were going to be flown into Israel,'" Shaikh told ABC News. Neither Sakeik nor her attorney were given written notification of where she was being deported, her husband and attorney said. Her attorney sought a stay of removal that would keep her in the U.S. after the government moved to deport her last week, and on Monday he was told her removal "is not imminent," Elsaban told ABC News. DHS initially told ABC News Sakeik "left the U.S." when she traveled to the U.S. Virgin Islands -- a U.S. territory. "The arrest of Ward Sakeik was not part of a targeted operation by ICE. She chose to leave the country and was then flagged by [Customs and Border Patrol] trying to reenter the U.S.," Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to ABC News. When ABC News asked if the government's stance was that travel to the Virgin Islands, a U.S. territory, constitutes someone choosing to "leave the country," DHS provided an updated statement. "She chose to fly over international waters and outside the U.S. customs zone and was then flagged by CBP trying to reenter the continental U.S.," McLaughlin said in a second statement. DHS said that Sakeik is in the U.S. illegally. MORE: Judge rules DHS violated court order in deporting 8 migrants to South Sudan "She overstayed her visa and has had a final order by an immigration judge for over a decade," McLaughlin said in the statement. "President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring integrity to the visa program and ensuring it is not abused to allow aliens a permanent one-way ticket to remain in the U.S." McLaughlin said that Sakeik's appeal of the final order of removal was rejected by the Board of Immigration Appeals in 2014. "She has exhausted her due process rights and all of her claims for relief have been denied by the courts," the statement said. DHS did not comment on the order of supervision Sakeik and her attorney say makes her status in the U.S. legal. DHS also did not respond to ABC News' questions asking why Sakeik was detained when she had presented valid travel documents that she says TSA had told her would suffice ahead of her trip or why, according to Sakeik, she was told she would be sent to the Israeli border when she has never lived in the region and is not a national of any country. DHS also did not respond to whether it was violating a standing court order that bars the removal of migrants to third countries without a proper chance to challenge these removals. The Trump administration has ramped up efforts to deport migrants. Last month, a federal judge in Boston ruled that the Trump administration's deportations of eight men -- who the administration alleged were convicted of violent crimes -- to South Sudan "unquestionably" violated an earlier order by not giving them adequate due process, including a "meaningful opportunity to object" to their removals to a country other than their own. Shaikh, who said he has visited his wife 18 times in the months that she's been held in detention, also submitted a green card application for Sakeik in February -- two days after she was detained. Her application is pending. Referring to his wife's family, Shaikh said, "They don't want to live like this. My wife has tried every route to adjust her status."
