Donald Trump, 45th and 47th President of the United States, does not appear as a direct correspondent in Jeffrey Epstein's email archive. However, Trump is referenced in numerous emails and documents spanning 2010-2018, primarily in the context of news articles, political commentary, and a 2016 lawsuit that Epstein circulated widely to contacts. Trump's documented social relationship with Epstein lasted approximately 15 years, from the late 1980s through the early-to-mid 2000s, including parties at Mar-a-Lago and other social events. The two had a falling out, with varying accounts placing it between 2004 and 2007. Trump has consistently denied any knowledge of Epstein's criminal activities and stated he banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago.
Background#
Donald John Trump was born June 14, 1946, in Queens, New York. He is a real estate developer and businessman who built his career in his father's real estate business before expanding into hotels, casinos, and branding. Trump became a household name through his reality television show The Apprentice in the 2000s. He served as the 45th President of the United States from 2017 to 2021 and was elected to a second term as the 47th President in 2024.
Trump's relationship with Epstein has been extensively documented in public reporting. The two socialized frequently in the 1990s and early 2000s in Palm Beach and New York social circles. In a 2002 New York Magazine profile of Epstein, Trump said: "I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side." Trump and Epstein had a falling out, with Trump stating in 2019 that he hadn't spoken to Epstein in 15 years, suggesting they ceased contact around 2004. Multiple reports indicate Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago after Epstein allegedly behaved inappropriately toward a member's teenage daughter.
Correspondence with Epstein#
Trump does not appear in the archive as a sender or recipient of emails. His name surfaces in emails Epstein sent to others, primarily as a subject of news coverage and political commentary during the 2016 and 2018 election cycles.
In November 2016, immediately following Trump's presidential election victory, Epstein circulated a Daily Mail article titled "Troubled woman history drug use claimed assaulted Donald Trump Jeffrey Epstein sex party age 13 FABRICATED story" to multiple contacts. The article reported that a lawsuit filed against both Trump and Epstein had been dropped and the allegations deemed fabricated. Epstein sent this link to numerous associates, including Michael Wolff, Nathan Myhrvold, and others, responding "nope" when asked by one contact if he had known the woman who filed the suit. Following the article circulation, Nathan Myhrvold joked to Epstein about whether he would become "secretary of treasury, or in a demonstration of irony, head of IRS," to which Epstein replied "great idea."
In March 2018, Epstein forwarded an article titled "How Close Is Donald Trump to a Psychiatric Breakdown?" from The Daily Beast. In response to Steve Bannon, who had sent him the same article, Epstein wrote: "he feels alone. and is nuts !!! , I told everyone from day one. evil beyond belief. mad, and most thought i was speaking metaphorically. its obvious he could crack. stormy daniels. ? lies after lies aflter lies". When journalist Landon Thomas Jr. suggested Epstein should reach out to Trump to "talk sense to him," Epstein's negative characterization indicated no active relationship remained between them.
Other Trump references in the archive include news forwarding: Richard Kahn sent Epstein articles about Trump Jr.'s divorce and a CNBC piece about Bill Richardson suggesting Trump could beat Hillary Clinton. In 2010, an associate named Nleese wrote Epstein asking if he could connect them to Trump regarding "Donald Trumps customized vitamin business(which isn't customized)", describing Trump as "a mate of yours." Sultan Bin Sulayem forwarded Epstein a BBC article about the "TrumpTapes story" in October 2016. Deepak Chopra sent Epstein an article titled "America's Shadow. The Real Secret of Donald J. Trump" before a meeting.
Connections#
Trump's name appears in correspondence and documents alongside several Epstein associates. In Alan Dershowitz's 2016 deposition, Dershowitz testified that "Donald Trump has been to Jeffrey Epstein's home, and I've seen him there" when asked about Bill Clinton's visits. Ghislaine Maxwell, in her July 2025 proffer to federal prosecutors, stated she "may have met Donald Trump" in 1990 when her father was friendly with him and liked both Trump and Ivana Trump, who "was also from Czechoslovakia where my dad was from." Maxwell indicated she did not remember definitively meeting Trump at that time but "knew about" him through her father's acquaintance. In the same proffer, when asked about Trump's alleged contribution to Epstein's 50th birthday book, Maxwell stated: "I don't remember what it does with Donald Trump. I I don't I don't know." She later stated that the birthday book materials in her trial discovery contained no submission from Trump.
A 2011 Daily Mail article filed in Giuffre v. Maxwell proceedings noted that Epstein "once counted Bill Clinton and Donald Trump among his friends" and that Virginia Roberts' father "was maintenance manager at Donald Trump's country club, Mar-a-Lago," where Roberts met Ghislaine Maxwell.
Document References#
Trump appears in multiple court documents and investigation files. In depositions from Edwards v. Dershowitz litigation, Dershowitz testified that Trump had visited Epstein's residence and that he had seen Trump there, contrasting this with his lack of knowledge about whether Bill Clinton had made similar visits. The deposition established Trump's social connection to Epstein through their overlapping social circles in the 1990s and early 2000s.
In 2016, a woman using the pseudonym "Jane Doe" (also identified as "Katie Johnson") filed a federal lawsuit in New York accusing both Trump and Epstein of rape and sexual assault at Epstein's Manhattan residence in 1994, when she was 13 years old. The case was dismissed and refiled multiple times before being voluntarily withdrawn in November 2016. Trump denied the allegations, and the accuser never appeared publicly. Documents referencing this case appear throughout the archive, particularly as Epstein circulated news of its dismissal.
A Wall Street Journal investigation reported in July 2025 that Epstein's 50th birthday book, assembled by Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003, contained a sexually suggestive letter bearing Trump's signature with an outline of a naked woman. Trump denied writing the letter and filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal. The House Oversight Committee released images from the birthday book in 2025, though Trump maintained the signature was not his.
Visits to Epstein Properties#
The archive does not document any visits by Trump to Epstein's properties during the period covered by the emails (approximately 2000-2019). However, external evidence establishes their social relationship included interactions at both Trump and Epstein properties during the 1990s and early 2000s:
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Manhattan townhouse: Dershowitz testified in deposition that he had personally seen Trump at Epstein's New York residence.
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Palm Beach residence: Public reporting documents that Trump and Epstein socialized at Mar-a-Lago in the 1990s and early 2000s before their falling out. A 2002 Vanity Fair article reported Trump was a guest at parties thrown by Epstein and Maxwell.
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Little St. James island: Trump has denied ever visiting Epstein's private island. No documentary evidence in the archive confirms any visit.
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New Mexico ranch: No visits documented in the archive.
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Paris apartment: No visits documented in the archive.
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Aircraft: Flight logs released during Maxwell's trial confirm Trump flew on Epstein's private jet multiple times in the 1990s. The archive emails do not document these flights.