WASHINGTON D.C. – In the latest development surrounding the highly scrutinized relationship between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, President Trump stated on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, that Epstein “stole” young women who worked at the spa at his Mar-a-Lago club. Trump identified Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most well-known sex trafficking accusers, as one of these individuals.
These comments expand on earlier remarks made by Trump, where he had claimed to have banned Epstein from his private Florida club two decades ago because his former friend “stole people that worked for me,” without initially specifying who those workers were. Aboard Air Force One, while returning from Scotland, Trump elaborated on his decision, stating 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.” Trump recounted confronting Epstein, telling him, “listen, we don’t want you taking our people.” When the alleged poaching occurred again, Trump said he banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago. When pressed by reporters if Giuffre was among the employees poached, he eventually affirmed, “he stole her.”
The White House had previously stated that Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago because he was acting like a “creep.” Giuffre, who tragically died by suicide earlier this year, had claimed that Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, spotted her working as a spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago in 2000, when Giuffre was a teenager. Giuffre alleged that Maxwell then hired her as Epstein’s masseuse, leading to years of sexual abuse and sex trafficking.
President Trump has faced increasing scrutiny over his administration’s refusal to release more records about Epstein, despite earlier promises of transparency. This refusal has caused a rare strain within Trump’s political coalition, with online sleuths and even some of his own allies promoting conspiracy theories and demanding more information. Trump has expressed annoyance that the Epstein case is still being discussed six years after the financier’s death by suicide while awaiting trial.
In a related development, Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s imprisoned former girlfriend, was recently interviewed inside a Florida courthouse by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the Justice Department’s second-highest official. The contents of their discussion have not been publicly disclosed. On Tuesday, Maxwell’s lawyers stated that she is willing to answer more questions from Congress if she is granted immunity from future prosecution for her testimony and if lawmakers agree to satisfy other unspecified conditions. However, a spokeswoman for the House Oversight Committee, which had requested the interview with Maxwell, swiftly rejected the notion of granting immunity. “The Oversight Committee will respond to Ms. Maxwell’s attorney soon, but it will not consider granting congressional immunity for her testimony,” the spokesperson confirmed.
Maxwell’s attorneys have also appealed her conviction to the Supreme Court, arguing she did not receive a fair trial. They also stated that one way she would testify “openly and honestly, in public,” is if President Trump grants her a pardon, a move Trump has acknowledged is within his rights but stated he has not been asked to do. “She welcomes the opportunity to share the truth and to dispel the many misconceptions and misstatements that have plagued this case from the beginning,” her lawyers asserted.
The renewed interest in the Epstein saga intensified after the Justice Department’s abrupt announcement earlier this month that it would not be releasing any additional records from the investigation. This decision stunned many who had hoped for bombshell revelations. Since then, the Trump administration has attempted to present itself as promoting transparency, with the Justice Department urging courts to unseal grand jury transcripts from the sex-trafficking investigations, although a judge in Florida last week rejected this request. Similar requests remain pending in New York.