President Trump stated on Monday that he had turned down an invitation to visit Jeffrey Epstein’s private island. He urged others to focus on different topics as he tried to shift away from questions about Epstein.
“I’ve never been to the island. [Former President] Bill Clinton probably visited it around 28 times. I never went to that island; [Former Treasury Secretary] Larry Summers did—he was the head of Harvard. And so many others who are significant, yet no one mentions them,” Trump said during his meeting with British Prime Minister Starmer in Scotland.
Trump emphasized, “I declined his invitation because I felt it wasn’t right. Many people from Palm Beach were invited. At one good moment, I said no. I didn’t want to go to his island.”
When questioned at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida about distancing himself from Epstein, Trump recounted his past interactions, saying, “I’ve refrained from discussing it for years and I don’t want to take up your time.”
“For years, I didn’t communicate with Jeffrey Epstein… because he did something inappropriate. He had employees that worked for me,” he explained.
“He took people who were part of my team. I warned him not to do it again, but he did, and I cut ties,” Trump added.
The president also responded to reports suggesting he had a closer relationship with Epstein than previously acknowledged. Referring to a birthday letter he sent to Epstein for his 50th, which supposedly featured a provocative message, he said, “I’m not in the business of drawing women.”
“Epstein was also a very controversial figure. I was in a prominent position,” Trump continued. “And now there’s talk of letters from many people.”
When asked about the potential pardon for longtime Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who recently spoke with the Department of Justice, Trump was evasive.
“I could grant her a pardon if I chose to,” he stated. “But no one has come to me about it. It’s in the news, but discussing it now doesn’t seem appropriate.”
On Friday, Trump mentioned he hadn’t considered a pardon for Maxwell and encouraged reporters to focus on other relevant Epstein-related subjects.
