10
Loading video...
By Gabe Whisnant
News Editor
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Jeffrey Epstein "stole" the late Virginia Giuffre when she was a Mar-a-Lago employee.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he was upset that Epstein was "taking people who worked for me." The women, he said, were "taken out of the spa, hired by him — in other words, gone."
"I said, listen, we don't want you taking our people," Trump said. When it happened again, Trump said he banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago.
Read More on Politics
Asked if Giuffre was one of the employees poached by Epstein, he demurred but then said "he stole her."
The White House originally said Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago because he was acting like a "creep."
The Republican president is facing backlash over his administration's refusal to release additional records related to Epstein, despite earlier promises of transparency—a rare point of tension within Trump's typically unified political base.
He has tried to deflect ongoing questions about the case, expressing frustration that it remains a topic of public discussion six years after Epstein's death in jail, even as some of his allies continue to promote conspiracy theories surrounding it.
When did Trump ban Epstein from Mar‑a‑Lago?
Trump formally banned Epstein from his Mar‑a‑Lago club in or around 2007 after Epstein allegedly sexually harassed a teenage daughter of another member, according to multiple accounts including research based on The Grifter's Club book.
Trump said Monday that he cut ties with Epstein, a longtime friend, and banned him from Mar-a-Lago years ago because "he stole people who worked for me." At the time, he did not make clear who those workers were.
What happened to Virginia Giuffre?
Virginia Louise Giuffre, born August 9, 1983, was recruited in 2000 at age 16 while working at Mar‑a‑Lago and became one of the most prominent accusers of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. She testified that she was trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell to powerful men, including Prince Andrew, and later founded advocacy groups such as Victims Refuse Silence (later SOAR). She was crucial in exposing their sex trafficking network through lawsuits and public testimony.
One of Epstein's most prominent sexual assault accusers, Giuffre, 41, died by suicide in April in Neergabby, Australia, where she had lived for several years.
After he death, Trump said about his former worker that it was "a very sad situation, the whole thing."
He continued, "That whole situation is very sad—her and others. Certainly, that's a horrible thing."
...
Did Virginia Giuffre work at Mar‑a‑Lago?
At age 16, Giuffre was employed as a locker-room attendant at Trump's Mar‑a‑Lago resort, where her father worked in maintenance. That was where she said she was approached by Maxwell under the pretense of becoming Epstein's traveling masseuse—an opportunity that ultimately led her into the sex trafficking ring. She later said that she met Epstein there and that the environment quickly turned abusive.
Maxwell, who has denied Giuffre's allegations, is serving a 20-year-prison sentence in a Florida federal prison for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse underage girls.
Epstein's accomplice has submitted a list of demands to the House Oversight Committee before agreeing to testify about Epstein. Her demands were sent to the House Oversight Committee by her attorneys.
Maxwell has appealed her case to the Supreme Court, but the Court has yet to decide whether it will hear the case.
Maxwell was also interviewed by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday and Friday last week.
Update: 7/29/25, 3:09 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.
Update: 7/29/25, 5:42 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.
Update: 7/29/25, 7:23 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines