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President Donald Trump spoke to reporters on Monday in Turnberry, Scotland, alongside U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, where he gave new details about his past relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the financier who was accused of serious crimes before his death in 2019.
Trump was asked why he had banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Florida. At first, Trump brushed it off as “old history,” but then explained that Epstein had tried to hire people who worked for Trump.
Trump said he warned Epstein not to do it again, but when it happened a second time, he kicked him out of the club for good.
“He hired help. And I said, ‘Don’t ever do that again.’ He stole people that worked for me. He did it again. And I threw him out of the place, persona non grata,” Trump said.
He also made a strange remark about never visiting Epstein’s private island, which is tied to abuse investigations.
“I never had the privilege of going to his island,” Trump said. “I did turn it down. In one of my very good moments, I turned it down.”
He added that many people in Palm Beach were invited, but he didn’t want to go.
Trump then shifted focus to other public figures linked to Epstein, especially Bill Clinton, claiming he visited the island “28 times,” although that figure has not been officially confirmed.
The White House had only briefly addressed Trump’s Epstein connection before, saying last week that Trump kicked Epstein out “for being a creep.” Now, Trump has given a fuller version, saying the real reason was staff poaching, not anything criminal.
These comments come while pressure builds to release more Epstein-related files, and as people continue to question the connections powerful people had with him. Trump is also facing pushback from his own supporters over how his administration has handled those documents.
Trump is trying to make it clear that he had no part in Epstein’s island activities, and that he ended their relationship long ago for business reasons.