Infamous financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein once maintained a seemingly friendly association with current US President Donald Trump. Trump, however, has consistently asserted that he severed ties with Epstein well before the latter’s first criminal conviction in 2008.
Recently declassified FBI documents reveal that in 2006, Trump contacted a senior Florida police official regarding Epstein’s behaviour. The former Palm Beach police chief, Michael Reiter, later recounted that during the call, Trump remarked that “everyone knows” about Epstein’s conduct and expressed approval that law enforcement was taking action.
The details emerged in a 2019 FBI interview transcript of Reiter, who confirmed to the Miami Herald that he had indeed received the phone call. In the transcript, Trump is quoted as saying: “It’s good that you are stopping him. Everyone knew he had been doing this for years.” While the transcript initially redacted the officer’s name, it identifies him as the Palm Beach police chief during the Epstein investigation.
Trump has consistently denied any knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activity and has stated that he had no suspicions regarding Epstein prior to his arrest. Yet the alleged phone call raises further questions about what Trump knew and when he knew it.
According to the FBI record, Reiter recalled that Trump informed him he had expelled Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago club, describing Epstein as a “person of very bad character” and warning that Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s associate, should also be closely monitored. Reiter further stated that Trump indicated he had once been near Epstein in circumstances where underage girls were present, and he had promptly left the scene.
Epstein’s associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted in 2021 for recruiting underage girls for Epstein’s sexual exploitation and is serving a 20-year prison sentence. Maxwell recently appeared virtually before the US House Oversight Committee but invoked her Fifth Amendment rights, declining to answer questions. Her legal team has suggested she would testify fully if Trump were to offer a pardon, though the former president has yet to indicate any intention to do so.
The FBI documents also confirm that during the early stages of the Palm Beach investigation into Epstein’s sexual abuse of minors, Trump was among the first high-profile individuals to contact police. Following the local investigation, the case was handed over to federal prosecutors, who in 2008 controversially negotiated a plea deal, shielding Epstein from more severe charges.
Despite repeated media scrutiny, the White House has offered no definitive confirmation of the 2006 call. Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt stated that it “may or may not have occurred” but emphasised that Trump has consistently maintained he removed Epstein from Mar-a-Lago due to his unsavoury behaviour.
Epstein and Trump were photographed together at social events throughout the 1990s, yet Trump insists he ceased contact around 2004, before Epstein’s criminal activities became widely known. He has said that the relationship soured when Epstein allegedly attempted to take employees from Mar-a-Lago.
Key Events Timeline
| Year | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Trump claims to sever ties with Epstein | Trump statements |
| 2006 | Phone call from Trump to Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter regarding Epstein | FBI transcript |
| 2008 | Epstein plea deal reached, avoiding more severe charges | Federal records |
| 2019 | FBI interview with Reiter documenting Trump call | FBI documents |
| 2021 | Ghislaine Maxwell convicted for aiding Epstein’s sexual exploitation | Court records |
This new disclosure intensifies scrutiny over Trump’s knowledge of Epstein’s misconduct and the precise timeline of their association, reopening public debate over accountability and oversight regarding one of the most notorious cases of sexual exploitation in recent US history.