Jeffrey Epstein and former President Donald Trump’s relationship was recently brought to light by journalist Michael Wolff. In audio recordings released by Wolff, Epstein had spoken about their relationship, and discussed how he felt about Trump.
In this slideshow, we look back at the relationship between the Trump and Epstein, as well as how the audio has impacted Trump’s presidential campaign.
Epstein, a convicted sex offender, said that he had been friends with Trump for over a decade. Epstein claimed that Trump “does nasty things to his best friends, best friends’ wives, anyone who he first tries to gain their trust and uses it to do bad things to them.”
Epstein’s former business partner Steven Hoffenberg said that “Donald liked Epstein, but he was crazy about [Ghislaine] Maxwell, a very charming lady.”
Former model Stacey Williams previously claimed that “he and Donald were really, really good friends and spent a lot of time together.”
Trump’s campaign vehemently denied Williams’ claim, stating, “These accusations, made by a former activist for Barack Obama and announced on a Harris campaign call two weeks before the election, are unequivocally false. It’s obvious this fake story was contrived by the Harris campaign.”
Epstein said, “With respect to real estate deals, he’s brilliant. He’s a salesman. He knows real estate really well. Anything else but that? He knows nothing. No history, no strategy. … He certainly can’t read a balance sheet, which is funny.”
The audio was from 2017, just two years prior to Epstein’s death. Wolff released the recordings on The Daily Beast.
Epstein described Trump as both charming and devious. “He’s charming. In a devious way, he’s charming,” Epstein noted.
Epstein added, “To some extent it’s a typical tragedy where he believes his own [expletive]. He has delusions of grandiosity, then he takes it on board.”
The recordings have been trouble for Trump’s campaign, as they have raise questions regarding his past conduct and decision-making. The audio release has coincided with other allegations, further complicating Trump’s image.
Trump’s campaign labeled Wolff’s reporting as “outlandish false smears” and claimed it was election interference. Trump distanced himself from Epstein in 2019.
“I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you,” Trump said at the time.
Trump added, “He was a fixture in Palm Beach. I think he probably committed suicide. He had a life with, you know, beautiful homes and beautiful everything. And all of a sudden, he’s incarcerated and not doing very well.”