Trump says Epstein stole Virginia Giuffre from his spa
Donald Trump said Tuesday that he severed ties with Jeffrey Epstein because the disgraced financier repeatedly "stole" young employees from his Mar-a-Lago spa—one of whom was 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre.
Speaking aboard Air Force One on his return from a combined golf trip and tariff summit in Scotland, Trump addressed his weekend remarks implying Epstein had been banned from Mar-a-Lago for luring away staff. He confirmed that Epstein had hired away several workers from the club, despite being explicitly warned not to.
“He took people that work for me, and I told him, don’t do it anymore. And he did it. I said, stay the hell out of here,” Trump said.
When asked whether one of those employees included Virginia Giuffre—who worked in the Mar-a-Lago pool locker room and was reportedly hired with help from her father, a club groundskeeper—Trump acknowledged she may have been among those taken.
“I told him, I said, listen, we don’t want you taking our people, whether it was spa or not spa. I don’t want him taking people. And he was fine. And then, not too long after that, he did it again. And I said, out of here,” Trump said, describing Epstein’s behavior as having “stolen” spa staff.
Pressed specifically about Giuffre, who died earlier this year at 41 by suicide, Trump responded: “I think she worked at the spa. I think so. I think that was one of the people.” He added, “And by the way, she had no complaints about us, as you know, none whatsoever.”
According to Giuffre, she met Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell at Mar-a-Lago in 2000, when Maxwell offered her an interview for a massage therapy role. Giuffre said she was then recruited, groomed, and sexually abused by Epstein under the pretense of being employed as a masseuse.
Trump’s new explanation for ending his long-running relationship with Epstein contradicts earlier accounts he has given over the years regarding their falling out. Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019 and later died by suicide in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial.