How Trump or his reps have characterized his relationship w/Epstein: “A lot of fun to be with” “No formal relationship” “They did not socialize” A business acquaintance “There was no relationship” “I was not a fan of his” But our @nytimes.com report reveals an intense, complicated friendship. 🧵

Epstein and Trump were close friends for nearly two decades. Epstein once considered Trump his best friend. What brought them together? The pursuit of women — a game of ego and dominance. GIFT LINK: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...

Epstein was perhaps Trump’s most reliable wingman on the party circuits of NY and FL. They prowled Epstein’s mansion and the Plaza Hotel, at least one of Trump’s AC casinos and both their Palm Beach homes. They visited each other’s offices and spoke often by phone, according to our reporting.

What did they talk about? Their sexual conquests – sometimes graphically, our reporting found:

During a flight together in the 1990s, Trump came on to another Epstein employee traveling with them, saying he could have anyone he wanted, according to a different Epstein worker. A third Epstein employee recalled that Trump would occasionally send over modeling cards for Epstein to peruse.

We found no evidence implicating Trump in Epstein’s abuse and trafficking of minors. But Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell introduced at least six women who have accused them of grooming or abuse to Trump. One was a minor at the time. None have accused Trump himself of inappropriate behavior.

One of the women, who has never before spoken publicly about the experience, told The Times that Epstein had coerced her into attending four parties at Epstein’s home. Trump attended all four, the woman said. At two of them, she said, Epstein directed her to have sex with other male guests.

Another of the accusers is known in court records as Jane Doe. She alleged in a civil complaint that Epstein had taken her to visit Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 1994, when she was about 14.

Epstein also came to a press luncheon in NYC that Trump hosted that fall. One contestant, Béatrice Keul, said that Epstein tried to get her to attend to a party at Mar-a-Lago. At a private meeting, Keul said, Trump groped her, kissed her, and tried to lift her dress. Trump has denied her account.

A model named Tina Davis – and her mother, who accompanied her – told us she was 14 when Ford Models sent her to a party Trump hosted there in 1994. In the bathroom, they said, Trump’s wife Marla Maples delivered a warning. (Ms. Maples denied the remark.)

We also noticed just how much Trump’s explanations of his friendship with Epstein — and its end — had shifted. Epstein was kicked out of Mar-a-Lago for being inappropriate with a masseuse. Or with the daughter of a member. For poaching employees. Or for being “a creep.”

In 2007, as Epstein was negotiating a plea, page Six reported that he had been banned from Mar-a-Lago for soliciting “a masseuse about 18 years old.” The item appeared to refer to Virginia Giuffre, who has said she was recruited from the Mar-a-Lago spa -- but back in 2000.

As Trump’s 2016 presidential bid heated up, he or aides made broad denials contradicted by pictures of the two at parties or Trump’s past praise. “There was no relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump,” one told Fox News. “They were not friends, and they did not socialize together.”