“A pal is a wonderful thing.”
Just how close was President Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein — and how much did he know about Epstein’s crimes?
The president’s onetime friendship with Jeffrey Epstein — the well-connected financier who was indicted for sex trafficking underage girls and died in prison in 2019 — has long been a matter of public record.
But new emails, obtained from the Epstein estate by Congress and released by House Democrats Wednesday, add more to the story.
In 2011, Epstein emailed his companion and co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, to say that “the dog that hasn’t barked is trump,” who, he claimed, “spent hours at my house” with one of his victims. (Epstein referred to her by name, but House Democrats redacted the name for her privacy.) Epstein observed that, despite this, Trump has “never once been mentioned” in the investigation.
Later, in a 2019 email (once Trump was president), Epstein wrote to journalist Michael Wolff, “of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop.”
The emails add to the pile of public signs that Trump was well aware of Epstein’s sexual proclivities, but they are also lacking details or specifics.
Epstein and Trump had socialized together frequently in New York City and Palm Beach from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. In 2002, Trump praised Epstein to a reporter as a “terrific guy” — and curiously added that he “likes beautiful women” on “the younger side.”
In 2003, Epstein received a “birthday book” with messages from many of his influential friends, and in it, there’s a message from Trump, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Inside a drawing of a naked woman’s outline, the message claims Trump and Epstein have “certain things in common.” It concludes: “A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.” (Trump said that the message is fake and filed a lawsuit against the Journal and its owner, Rupert Murdoch, for publishing the story.)
Much of the online right has been obsessed with the Epstein scandal for years, hoping Democrats and celebrities would be implicated in his sex crimes. They’ve been comparatively uninterested in Trump’s well-documented, decade-plus relationship with Epstein.
However, Trump and Epstein’s friendship did reportedly end in 2004 in a bitter falling-out; they were fighting to buy the same Florida oceanside mansion, and it got ugly.Trump and Epstein socialized frequently for years
A talented social climber who rapidly attained massive wealth through mysterious means, Epstein became a fixture of New York City and Palm Beach elite circles by the 1990s.
During this period, both Epstein and Trump frequently dined and partied together, at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and Epstein’s mansion in Manhattan. Both frequently hosted or attended parties featuring many models, cheerleaders, beauty pageant contestants, and other attractive young women as guests. They were often photographed together at these events, often with Epstein’s companion Ghislaine Maxwell as well.
