Trump flew on Epstein’s planes eight times in the 1990s, including Ghislaine Maxwell, according to emails from prosecutors.
A new set of Jeffrey Epstein files released includes numerous references to US President Donald Trump, including documents detailing flights aboard the private jet of a then-friend.
President Trump has flown on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet “more times than previously reported,” according to an email from a New York prosecutor that forms part of a new set of documents about Epstein released Tuesday.
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An unidentified prosecutor wrote in an email dated Jan. 7, 2020, that flight records show Trump flew on Epstein’s private jet eight times in the 1990s. That included at least four flights on which Epstein’s colleague Ghislaine Maxwell was also on board.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for helping late financier Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.
In a 2024 social media post, President Trump said he “never flew on Epstein’s plane or on his ‘stupid’ island.” There was no allegation in the prosecutor’s email that Mr. Trump had committed any crime. The White House did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on the email.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a statement Tuesday saying some of the documents contained “false and sensational claims” about President Trump and were submitted to the FBI after the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost, but did not provide further details.
“Let us be clear: this allegation is baseless and false, and if it had any credibility whatsoever, it would undoubtedly already have been used as a weapon against President Trump,” the Justice Department said in a social media post.
The Trump administration has opposed the release of Epstein-related documents, and a set of documents released last week contained heavy redactions and has been accused of subverting a law passed in November. The latest release contains approximately 8,000 files including video and audio recordings and 30,000 pages of documents.
Many names and details have been redacted in recent releases. Some of the redactions appear to obscure the names of prosecutors and government officials, going beyond an exception in the Epstein Files Act that allows limited redactions to protect the details of Epstein’s victims.
“Two of the passengers on each of the other two flights were female potential witnesses in the Maxwell case,” the document states.
On one flight, there were only three people on board: Trump, Epstein, and a 20-year-old woman whose name was withheld.
Some of the videos are said to show inside the federal detention center where Epstein died in 2019. His death was ruled a suicide, but speculation surrounding the circumstances of his death continues to swirl.
President Trump downplayed the importance of the Epstein file, saying on Monday that it was being used by his political opponents to “avoid great success” by his administration.
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 52% of Americans disapprove of President Trump’s handling of the Epstein file, while 23% approve. About 70% said they believed the government was hiding details of Epstein’s relationships with powerful associates who may have participated in the sex trafficking of teenage girls.
Democrats and some Republicans continue to press for more material to be released. President Trump’s right-wing supporters are divided over what to do with Epstein-related documents, which members of his administration promised to release before entering the White House.
Republican Representative Thomas Massey on Monday accused Attorney General Pam Bondi of “working diligently to redact, omit, and delete the Epstein files that are legally required to be made public under our bill.”
