How one Epstein victim was said to be recruited from Mar-a-Lago, and all the other connections between the accused sex trafficker and Trump's Palm Beach resort

Kat TenbargeSep 23, 2019, 23:20 IST

Davidoff Studios/Getty Images, Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Although President Donald Trump has denied having a serious friendship with the late Jeffrey Epstein, the financier definitely spent time at the president's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, where the two wealthy men lived nearby each other.
A prominent Epstein victim, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, says his ex-girlfriend and alleged "madam," Ghislaine Maxwell, recruited her into Epstein's sex trafficking operation when she worked as a locker room attendant at Mar-a-Lago in 1999, when she was 15.
Trump and Epstein were filmed by NBC News in a now widely-distributed clip from a 1992 party at Mar-a-Lago, featuring the two and a number of women, some of whom were NFL cheerleaders.
The president claims he banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago for making unwanted sexual advances toward young women, but The New York Times reported that their falling-out may have been due to a real estate battle for a Palm Beach property that Trump won.
Here are all the connections between Epstein and the 'Southern White House.'
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In two of the few photos of the late Jeffrey Epstein, he's at Mar-a-Lago with President Donald Trump. In one, the president has his arm draped casually over the wealthy financier's shoulder. In the other, future First Lady Melania Trump and Epstein's alleged "madam" Ghislaine Maxwell join them.

Both Epstein and Trump owned properties in Palm Beach, Florida, and in Manhattan. They both controlled vast assets. And they both, by the latter's own admission, loved "beautiful women."

Since Epstein's arrest in June on federal charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy, Trump has worked to distance himself from the convicted sex offender. In a sharp contrast from his 2002 comments, in which the president said he'd known Epstein for 15 years and thought he was a "terrific guy," Trump now says he "wasn't a fan" and had a falling-out with the financier some time around 2004.

But before that falling-out, Epstein was a guest more than once at Trump's "Southern White House," and according to one of his most prominent victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Epstein used the resort to recruit her into his sex-trafficking operation.

Along with Epstein's victim's account, here are all the known connections between the accused sex trafficker and Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.

See How one Epstein victim was said to be recruited from Mar-a-Lago, and all the other connections between the accused sex trafficker and Trump's Palm Beach resort >>

Epstein was rarely caught on camera, but was captured partying at Mar-a-Lago with Trump twice.

In 2016, a lawyer for the Trump Organization claimed that Trump and Epstein weren't friends, and that they "did not socialize together." But photos and video clips of the two partying together at Mar-a-Lago surfaced after Epstein's arrest in June, followed by his death by apparent suicide in August.

Along with two photos taken of Epstein, Trump, and their partners on February 12, 2000 and a photo taken there in 1997, NBC News released video footage taken at a 1992 party at Mar-a-Lago, featuring Trump, Epstein, and many women – some of whom were NFL cheerleaders.

The 1992 footage was shot for Faith Daniels' talk show "A Closer Look," after the host said Trump delivered an uninvited kiss on the lips in front of the paparazzi and her husband.

Daniels then booked Trump for a segment on his life after his most recent divorce, and the NBC crew followed him to the Mar-a-Lago party that Trump, apparently, had invited Epstein to. In the clip, Epstein and Trump chat, Trump tells the financier a joke, which makes him turn aside with laughter, and they watch Trump's female guests dance.

Reports also suggest that Trump and Epstein hosted private parties for themselves and "beautiful women" at Mar-a-Lago more than once.

Later, reporting by The New York Times on the extent of Epstein's relationship with Trump revealed more details about what was possibly the same 1992 party captured by NBC.

A Florida-based businessman who organized a "calendar girl" competition at Mar-a-Lago told the Times that Trump requested two dozen women be flown in for the exclusive event – but that he and Epstein were the only other guests.

"I said, 'Donald, this is supposed to be a party with V.I.P.s. You're telling me it's you and Epstein?'" the businessman told the Times. According to the same article, Epstein was never a dues-paying member of Mar-a-Lago, Trump Organization officials say. Rather, he was a guest of a guest.

It is unclear whether the video footage in the NBC archives is of the party detailed by the businessman. But other male guests can be seen at that party, so it's possible Trump threw two separate events at Mar-a-Lago with Epstein in attendance in 1992 alone.

One of Epstein's accusers, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, says she was recruited by his alleged "madam" directly from Mar-a-Lago.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre has stated publicly and in court documents that she was recruited by Maxwell into a sex trafficking operation led by Epstein while she was working as a locker room attendant at Mar-a-Lago in 1999.

When Giuffre was 16, she says Maxwell approached her at Mar-a-Lago and convinced her to give Epstein massages at his Palm Beach residence. This, Giuffre testified, was how years of sexual abuse perpetrated against her by Epstein and his powerful connections began.

Giuffre has not testified against Trump, and said her only relationship with the president is that she worked for him at Mar-a-Lago.

The number for Mar-a-Lago is written in Epstein's "Black Book."

Epstein's "black book" became a part of court proceedings related to the financier when his former house manager, Alfredo Rodriguez, attempted to sell it (illegally) in 2006.

Gawker obtained a copy of the address book, which contained contact information for the women Epstein enlisted to give him "massages" – a process many of his accusers say was key to his sex crimes. Many of the contacts are listed anonymously, especially pertaining to the massages, which are divided by country.

But many of Epstein's known associates, including those accused by victims like Giuffre of being complicit in the sex trafficking operation, were listed. Rodriguez circled entries that he claimed were the "Holy Grail" to cracking Epstein's operation, and Trump was one of the names circled.

Under Trump's entry, 14 different phone numbers are recorded. One of them is a line listed as being for Mar-a-Lago. Epstein also recorded numbers for Ivanka Trump, Melania Trump, Trump's former personal assistant, and his various residences, along with other ways to reach the then-real estate mogul.

A spokesperson for Trump said in 2015 that Epstein would go to Mar-a-Lago "on occasion."

There are two reported reasons for the dissolution of Trump's relationship with Epstein. The first, which Trump has pushed, is that the president learned Epstein was making unwanted sexual advances toward women at Mar-a-Lago, and he was barred from entering the resort.

The other possible reason, as reported by The Washington Post, is that both Trump and Epstein wanted to buy an oceanfront property in Palm Beach that was being sold out of bankruptcy.

The auctioneer of the mansion told the Post that both men lobbied him with claims that the other didn't have the money to secure the purchase, which was finalized for Trump in 2004. After that, the two were never reported to cross paths again.

The Trump Organization didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.