Topline
President Donald Trump’s prolonged affiliation with Jeffrey Epstein is going through renewed scrutiny Friday after a Wall Road Journal report that he gifted Epstein a sexually suggestive birthday card for the convicted intercourse offender’s fiftieth birthday in 2003, about 20 years into their friendship that performed out at Trump’s Palm Seashore property and on Epstein’s non-public jets.
American businessman and ex-president Donald Trump, Belgian mannequin Ingrid Seynhaeve, and American … Extra
Timeline
Trump and Epstein met across the time Trump purchased Mar-a-Lago in 1985, when Epstein was additionally dwelling in Palm Seashore, in keeping with Trump, who informed New York magazine in 2002 he had identified Epstein for “15 years,” calling him a “terrific man,” and including “it’s even stated that he likes lovely girls as a lot as I do, and lots of of them are on the youthful facet.”
Trump and Epstein have been noticed laughing collectively at a celebration Trump threw at Mar-a-Lago, in keeping with NBC footage of the occasion unearthed in 2019.
Trump flew on Epstein’s non-public jets 4 instances in 1993, in keeping with flight logs made public throughout Epstein affiliate Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial, The New York Occasions reported.
Trump flew on considered one of Epstein’s non-public jets, in keeping with the flight logs.
Trump took one other flight on an Epstein jet, the flight logs say.
Trump took a seventh flight on considered one of Epstein’s jets.
Trump and Epstein have been photographed standing close to one another at a Victoria’s Secret “Angels” social gathering, in keeping with a Getty picture of Trump posing with mannequin Ingrid Seynhaeve that reveals Epstein within the background.
Epstein sufferer Virginia Giuffre was working at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort when she was recruited by Maxwell to work as Epstein’s private masseuse and was groomed by the 2 to offer sexual providers for Epstein and his rich circle, in keeping with a deposition Giuffre gave that was made public in 2019.
Trump allegedly gave Epstein the birthday card that stated “could each day be one other great secret,” in keeping with the Thursday report within the Wall Street Journal, which the president denies.
Trump and Epstein had a falling out when Trump outbid him for a Palm Seashore mansion, in keeping with a Washington Submit report.
Essential Quote
“I knew him like everyone in Palm Seashore knew him,” Trump informed reporters from the Oval Workplace in 2019 when Epstein was arrested. “I used to be not a fan of his, that I can inform you.”
What Does Trump’s Alleged Birthday Message To Trump Say?
Trump wrote Epstein a typewritten letter that additionally included a drawing of a unadorned lady and referenced a “great secret” between the 2 for Epstein’s fiftieth birthday in 2003, in keeping with a Thursday report within the Wall Street Journal, which reported that it reviewed the be aware. The report comes as Trump has confronted backlash from his base over the previous two weeks after the Justice Division introduced it wouldn’t launch any extra info on its Epstein probe, regardless of some earlier recommendations from prime legislation enforcement officers that it will. The textual content of the be aware allegedly reads: tk
Chief Critics
Trump’s allies rallied behind him within the wake of the Journal report, with some claiming the alleged textual content doesn’t sound just like the president and others alleging the story was a coordinated assault by Democrats.
Tangent
Trump ordered Lawyer Common Pam Bondi to launch “pertinent” information from grand jury testimony in Epstein’s case amid criticism of the Justice Division’s dealing with of the Epstein probe.
Key Background
Epstein died by suicide in 2019 in his Manhattan jail cell whereas awaiting trial on federal fees of intercourse trafficking minors to his rich associates and associates. Trump is amongst an extended checklist of Epstein’s high-profile associates, together with billionaire Les Wexner, Prince Andrew and former President Invoice Clinton. Lots of Trump’s MAGA allies have pushed conspiracies about Epstein via the years, together with that he was killed, quite than died by suicide, and saved an alleged checklist of high-profile shoppers. The Justice Division stated final week that no such checklist exists and reiterated that Epstein died by suicide.
Additional Studying
MAGA World Rallies To Defend Trump: Don Jr. Calls Epstein Birthday Card Allegations ‘Insanity’ (Forbes)
Just 17% Approve Of Trump’s Handling Of Epstein Files: Poll (Forbes)
