Trump's Epstein claim sparks Virginia Giuffre family outrage
Speaking aboard Air Force One, the president told reporters that Epstein 'stole' Ms Giuffre from the Mar-a-Lago spa when she was just 16.
'Everyone knows the people who were taken,' Mr Trump said.
'People were taken out of the spa hired by him… And then not too long after that, he did it again. And I said, 'Out of here.''
But the family of Ms Giuffre, who lived in WA before she tragically took her own life, has issued a furious response.
'It was shocking to hear President Trump invoke our sister and say that he was aware that Virginia had been 'stolen' from Mar-a-Lago,' the family said in a statement.
'It makes us ask if he was aware of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's criminal actions, especially given his statement two years later that his good friend Jeffrey 'likes women on the younger side... no doubt about it.''
The comments have sparked renewed scrutiny of Mr Trump's long-denied ties to Epstein and his inner circle, including whether his administration sought to downplay any connection.
Mr Trump has previously claimed he 'never had the privilege of going to (Epstein's) island' and insisted Democrats planted his name in case files. But Florida's former attorney general Pam Bondi reportedly told Mr Trump that his name appears 'multiple times' in Epstein-linked documents.
Ms Giuffre, who died at the age of 41 in April, was one of the most vocal survivors to speak out about Epstein and Ms Maxwell's trafficking operation. She maintained she was recruited into the ring while working as a locker room attendant at Mar-a-Lago in 2000.
Mr Trump officially severed ties with Epstein in 2004. Over the years, he's attributed the falling-out to everything from Epstein being 'a creep' to a dispute over a Palm Beach property. His latest remarks, however, raise new questions about what he knew and when.
The Ms Giuffre family also lashed out at Congress over ongoing moves to allow Ms Maxwell to testify about Epstein's network, calling her 'a monster who deserves to rot in prison for the rest of her life.'
'If our sister could speak today, she would be most angered by the fact that the government is listening to a known perjurer,' their statement continued.
'A woman who repeatedly lied under oath and will continue to do so as long as it benefits her position.'
Ms Maxwell, currently serving a 20-year sentence, met with Justice Department officials last week. She is scheduled to testify before Congress on August 11, though a request for immunity has already been denied.
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