In a now infamous photo from February 2000, then-real estate developer and now former US President Donald Trump was seen posing with his girlfriend and future wife, former model Melania Knauss, along with two other individuals. One of them was financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and the other was British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.
As the public’s curiosity surrounding Trump’s ties to Epstein continues to grow, new reports have emerged shedding light on the extent of their relationship. The New York Times recently published a photo of a note that Trump wrote to Epstein in a copy of his book, Trump: The Art of the Comeback, which Epstein had in his possession.
The note, dated October ’97, reads “To Jeff – You are the greatest!” and is signed by Trump. This message was written just one month after the book was published, making it evident that Trump and Epstein had a connection long before their names became synonymous with each other in the media.
The Times also released a photo of Trump, Epstein, and singer James Brown, but the location of the image remains unknown. When asked about the inscription, White House communications director Steven Cheung defended the president, stating: “The fact is that the President kicked him out of his club for being a creep. This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media.”
This recent reporting from The Times follows CNN’s publication of a photo from Trump’s 1993 wedding to Marla Maples, where Epstein was seen in attendance. Another video surfaced from a 1999 Victoria’s Secret fashion event, where Trump and Epstein were seen laughing together.
Epstein’s death in federal prison in 2019, during Trump’s first term in office, has only intensified the scrutiny surrounding their relationship. The attention has been further exacerbated by a memo released earlier this month by the Justice Department and the FBI, stating that there is no evidence to support the claims that Epstein was killed or that he held a client list to blackmail people. This document directly contradicts former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s statement to Fox News in February, where she claimed to have the client list “sitting on her desk.”
Subsequent reports have continued to raise uncomfortable questions for the White House, which has been trying to downplay and deflect interest in the story. The Wall Street Journal reported that Bondi informed Trump in May that his name appeared multiple times in a “truckload” of Epstein documents reviewed by the DOJ. The White House quickly dismissed the article as “fake news.”
This isn’t the first time that the Journal has angered Trump. In 2020, they published a report detailing a “bawdy” letter that Trump allegedly wrote to Epstein as part of a birthday surprise planned by Ghislaine Maxwell. Trump sued the newspaper for libel, accusing them of trying to “malign” his character. He also accused the outlet of deceptively portraying him in a false light.
The Times also reported that Trump’s name appeared in the list of contributors to the scrapbook Maxwell put together for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003, though they have not been able to independently review the alleged racy message reported by the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper also published a handwritten note from Maxwell to Epstein at the top of the album, where she states that she “prepared the gift to gather stories and old photographs to jog your memory about places, people, and different events.”
The Journal has since revealed that former President Bill Clinton was among those who contributed to the birthday surprise.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump once again dismissed the Epstein controversy as a “scam” and a “hoax,” despite reportedly expressing concerns privately about the damage it could cause his reputation.
“As things are revealed and, I hope will take place quickly, you will see that it is yet another Democrat con job,” Trump wrote.
Meanwhile, Maxwell is currently in the midst of a second day of interviews with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as part of the DOJ’s efforts to gather more information about her former boyfriend. She is currently serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted of helping Epstein sexually abuse minors.
In recent years, Trump has been quick to distance himself from Epstein, claiming that he kicked him out of his club and that they were never close friends. However, as more and more evidence and reports emerge, it appears that their relationship was more extensive
