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President Donald Trump doubled down on his explanation for kicking Jeffrey Epstein out of his Florida home after revealing the disgraced financier “did something that was inappropriate” years before his arrest.
Speaking to reporters while onboard Air Force 1 in Scotland on Tuesday, the president further elaborated on his revelation that Epstein “stole” workers employed at his Mar-a-Lago estate years ago, ultimately leading to the pair’s eventual fallout.
“He took people,” Trump said. “I said, ‘Don’t do that anymore,’ you know, they work for me. And he took beyond that. He took some others. And once he did that, that was the end of him.”
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Epstein was then banned from Mar-a-Lago, Trump said.
The two men reportedly stopped speaking in 2004 after Trump outbid Epstein in a bankruptcy auction for a coastal Florida estate, according to The Palm Beach Post. Epstein was arrested by the Palm Beach Police Department two years later after a grand jury indicted him on a single charge of soliciting prostitution.
Trump explained Epstein poached several young women employed at his estate’s spa, including high-profile Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre.
“I think she worked at the spa,” Trump told reporters. “He stole her, and by the way, she had no complaints about us, as you know, none whatsoever.”
The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Giuffre, who died by suicide in March, was a key figure in advocating for Epstein’s arrest. She had said she was recruited to be Epstein’s masseuse by Ghislaine Maxwell while she was employed at Mar-a-Lago.
While Giuffre was not involved in Epstein’s criminal prosecutions, she remained central to the case.
Trump’s statements came one day after he told reporters he “never had the privilege of going to [Epstein’s] island.”
“I did turn it down, but a lot of people in Palm Beach were invited to his island,” Trump said during a Monday meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland. “In one of my very good moments, I turned it down. I didn’t want to go to his island.”
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Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and convicted accomplice, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in procuring young girls for the disgraced financier.
Last week, Maxwell was subpoenaed to testify in front of the House Oversight Committee regarding the scope of Epstein’s crimes. Maxwell’s legal team has since said she will only speak if granted immunity, which the panel rejected.
“The Oversight Committee will respond to Ms. Maxwell’s attorney soon, but it will not consider granting congressional immunity for her testimony,” a spokesperson said.
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Just days later, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche traveled to Florida to meet with Maxwell at a federal courthouse, where she answered questions regarding Epstein, according to her attorney.
Additionally, Maxwell’s legal team filed a brief on Monday asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal of her 2021 conviction. Her attorneys claim she should have been included in a 2007 non-prosecution deal Epstein made with authorities that spared him from facing federal charges in Florida.
The Department of Justice has asserted that the agreement did not encompass Maxwell.
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The Supreme Court is scheduled to discuss taking up Maxwell’s appeal on Sept. 29.
Maxwell’s legal team has also said she would “openly and honestly, in public,” if granted a pardon by Trump — a move the president acknowledged is within his rights to consider but added that he has not been asked to do so yet.
“She welcomes the opportunity to share the truth and to dispel the many misconceptions and misstatements that have plagued this case from the beginning,” Maxwell’s lawyers previously said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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