British News Agency

While returning from Scotland to Washington aboard Air Force One, Trump was asked by reporters to elaborate on his past claims that his fallout with Epstein was due to Epstein recruiting his employees. On Monday, Trump said he had kicked Epstein out of the club for doing something “inappropriate,” specifically “stealing people who worked for me.”

On Tuesday, a reporter asked, “Were any of the workers he took young women?”

Trump replied, “The answer is yes, there were. They were people who worked in the spa.”

Another reporter asked if one of the women was Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s top accusers, who alleged in court that she was recruited from Mar-a-Lago’s spa in 2000 by Ghislaine Maxwell when she was 16.

Giuffre, who died this year, had claimed she was abused by Epstein and Maxwell and later “loaned” to other powerful men, including Prince Andrew.

Trump said, “I think she worked at the spa. I think so. I think she was one of them. He stole her. By the way, as you know, she never had any complaints about us. None.”

The president and his administration have been working hard to deflect from the Epstein issue, which has recently troubled his base. However, the allegation that Giuffre was 16 in 2000, and Trump praised Epstein two years later, complicates the timeline.

In late 2002, Trump told New York magazine: “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do – and many of them are on the younger side.”