Trump and Epstein's mysterious ties: Wedding invitations, Mar-a-Lago secrets, and a shocking fallout
It became a cornerstone of the MAGA movement's belief that Trump alone would take down the elite.
The trouble with Epstein
But then came the memo.
Just after the Fourth of July weekend, the Department of Justice quietly released a review of the Epstein files. The bombshell statement inside? There was no incriminating 'client list.' There was no evidence of a blackmail operation. And Epstein, the memo said, died by suicide in his jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.
The fallout was instant. MAGA influencers, many of whom had built massive followings by hyping Trump's crusade against Epstein, turned on him. Some accused his administration of joining the cover-up. Others demanded the resignation of Attorney General Pam Bondi, whose name was on the DOJ memo.
Photo byStill reeling from that news, Trump found himself back in the spotlight again just days later. As the dust began to settle, The Wall Street Journal reported on a collection of letters gifted to Epstein by the President in 2003, including a crude birthday note.
The note featured several lines of typewritten text inside the crude outline of a naked woman drawn in thick black marker. It read: 'Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.' Trump has outright denied giving Epstein any such letter and has also sued WSJ and Rupert Murdoch over it.
So how close were they, really?
For years, Donald Trump downplayed the connection. But the two were hardly strangers. In fact, they were around each other long before Epstein's name became synonymous with scandal.
According to earlier reports, their connection dates back to the 1980s, when both men moved into Palm Beach high society. They appeared at many of the same parties. They were photographed together more than once. And Trump, in a now-infamous 2002 quote published by New York Magazine, once described Epstein as 'a terrific guy' who 'likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.'
But the more President Trump wants to distance himself from the Epstein case, the more he seems to get muddled in it.
In newly released photos and videos by CNN, Trump and Epstein appear very close. So strong was their bond that Epstein was also invited to Trump and Marla Maples' wedding in New York, a fact not widely known.
Photo byCNN also released footage from 1999 showing Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein at a Victoria's Secret fashion event in New York. In the video, they are seen chatting and laughing with Trump's future wife, Melania. The outlet highlighted that this material predates any of Epstein's known legal issues.
By the early '90s, they were known to socialize more openly. Epstein's letter, dated June 1992, references Trump's then-wife, Marla Maples, and expresses thanks for the use of Mar-a-Lago, Trump's private estate in Florida. It didn't stop there. In the flight logs released by Pam Bondi in February 2025, Donald Trump's name appears seven times, indicating that they traveled together multiple times.
There's also the oft-discussed party at Mar-a-Lago in 1992, attended by just two guests: Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein.
According to The New York Times, the event was initially meant to feature 28 'calendar girls,' but the organizer said he had no clue it would end up being just Trump and Epstein.
Source: X
Trump and Epstein also shared mutual acquaintances, including Ghislaine Maxwell, who would later be convicted of trafficking underage girls for Epstein. She is currently serving her sentence in Tallahassee.
Real estate rivalry or something more?
By the mid-2000s, however, the relationship seemed to have soured.
When Epstein was arrested in Florida in 2006 on state-level charges, Trump reportedly cut ties over a property dispute.
By the time of Epstein's 2019 arrest and subsequent death, Trump was eager to distance himself. When asked about the financier, Trump told reporters: 'I knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him. People in Palm Beach knew him. He was a fixture in Palm Beach.'
Since then, his statements have mostly denied any and all involvement with Jeffrey Epstein.
Source: X
But this is just one side of the story. According to Epstein, he had been 'Donald's closest friend for ten years' before they fell apart. Epstein freely shared his thoughts about Trump with journalist Michael Wolff in August 2017—two years before his death in a Manhattan jail cell. At the time, Wolff was researching what would become his explosive bestseller Fire and Fury.
Wolff featured excerpts from the tapes on his podcast and provided some of the recordings to The Daily Beast.
In them, Epstein called Trump 'brilliant' at real estate deals, crediting his strong salesmanship. He also claimed that Trump attempted to seduce the wives of his friends, describing him as 'charming' and 'delightful,' yet ultimately 'a horrible human being.'
The convicted felon made many more outrageous claims to prove his closeness with Trump, but how many of them are true will probably remain a mystery.
There is no doubt in anyone's mind that U.S.
President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein shared a bond that ran deeper than the President wants to admit.
Jeffrey Epstein is dead, yet his ghost still lingers—no matter how many would rather the world forget. And while the truth seems elusive now, the hope is that justice, even if delayed, wasn't quietly buried with the man who escaped it in life.
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