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U.S. President Donald Trump keeps facing questions about Jeffrey Epstein, the multi-millionaire sex offender who died in jail in 2019 while facing federal charges of trafficking underage girls. Here's a quick guide to the Epstein saga and how it intersected with Trump over the years.

Questions about disgraced financier keep dogging U.S. president's second term

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Two man and two women standing together, both men with their arms around the woman, all smiling
Donald Trump, left, and Melania Trump are shown with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., in February 2000. (Davidoff Studios/Getty Images)

U.S. President Donald Trump keeps facing questions about Jeffrey Epstein, the multi-millionaire sex offender who died in jail in 2019 while facing federal charges of trafficking underage girls.

As media outlets reveal new information about the Epstein case and his long-ago personal relationship with Trump, the U.S. president and his administration have tried to shift the narrative. 

Here's a quick guide to the Epstein saga and how it has intersected with Trump over the years.

1990s 

Trump, then a wealthy real-estate developer, and Epstein, a hedge-fund manager, move in the same elite social circles in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Fla., and become friends. 

1992: Video from a party at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort shows the two men together.

1993: Epstein attends Trump's wedding to Marla Maples, according to video and photos obtained by CNN.

1993-97: Trump travels at least seven times on one of Epstein's private jets, according to flight logs that eventually become evidence in lawsuits. However none of the flights go to Epstein's private island in the Caribbean. 

WATCH | Epstein, Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 1992:

The Prince & The Paedophile: Epstein at Trump's

Epstein had many rich and powerful friends, and enjoyed lavish parties. In this footage from Trump's Mar-a-Lago home, Epstein is seen ogling women on the dance floor with the real estate tycoon.

2000s 

Trump rises to national fame with his reality TV show The Apprentice, while Epstein is charged with sexually abusing teenage girls. 

2002: In a feature about Epstein in New York magazine, Trump is quoted as saying he'd known Epstein for 15 years. "Terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with," Trump said. "It's even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side."

2003: For his 50th birthday, Epstein receives a leather-bound book containing letters from friends. One message is from Trump, featuring an outline drawing of a naked woman and text suggesting the two men share a secret, the Wall Street Journal recently reported. Trump has denied he wrote the letter and is suing the newspaper for libel.

WATCH | Trump is suing the Wall Street Journal:

What to expect from Trump’s lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal

U.S. President Donald Trump is suing the Wall Street Journal and its owners, including Rupert Murdoch, after the newspaper reported his name was on a 2003 birthday greeting for Jeffrey Epstein that included a sexually suggestive drawing and a reference to secrets they shared. 

Mid-2000s: Trump and Epstein have a falling out, and the reasons are unclear. Most recently, Trump has said it was triggered by Epstein "taking people that worked for me" at Mar-a-Lago. Other accounts have blamed a 2004 bidding war over a mansion in Palm Beach or Epstein harassing the daughter of a Mar-a-Lago member in 2007. 

2008: Epstein is under investigation for sexually abusing underage girls at his homes in Florida and New York from 2002 through 2005. He avoids federal prosecution and a potentially lengthy prison sentence by pleading guilty to lesser state charges of soliciting prostitution from a minor, under a secret plea deal. 

WATCH | Epstein's alleged victims call for justice:

Epstein victims share harrowing accounts of assault and humiliation in court

In an extraordinary hearing, 16 women who say Jeffrey Epstein sexually assaulted them as teenagers shared their harrowing stories. One by one before a New York judge, they expressed the anger they feel toward the financier, who killed himself this month while awaiting trial.

2010s

Trump's life journey takes him to the White House, while Epstein's abruptly ends in jail.

2017: Trump nominates Alexander Acosta to be his secretary of labour. Acosta was the U.S. attorney who oversaw Epstein's then-secret plea deal, revealed in 2018 by the Miami Herald. He resigns in 2019, shortly after federal prosecutors revive the criminal case against Epstein.       

WATCH | Epstein arrested and charged: 

Multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein charged with federal child sex trafficking crimes

In a newly unsealed indictment, more details are being revealed about the federal charges against American multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein. The financier is alleged to have operated a sex trafficking ring in which he sexually abused dozens of underage girls, allegations that have circulated around the politically connected businessman for years.

2019: On July 8, in federal court in Manhattan, Epstein is indicted on sex trafficking charges. He pleads not guilty and is held in a federal jail. The next day, a reporter asks Trump if he still thinks Epstein is a terrific guy. Trump responds: "I don't think I've spoken to him for 15 years. I wasn't a fan."

On Aug. 10, Epstein dies in custody. His death is ruled a suicide. 

WATCH | Trump retweets conspiracy theories about Epstein's death: 

How Trump is fuelling anger over Jeffrey Epstein’s death

Financier Jeffrey Epstein's death weeks after he was indicted on sex-trafficking charges has raised a range of questions about how such a high-profile detainee could die in custody, while U.S. President Donald Trump retweeted unsubstantiated claims about Epstein's death. Epstein, who died by apparent suicide according to officials, had pleaded not guilty.

2020s

Despite Epstein's death — or perhaps because of it — questions about the scandal continue to swirl.   

2023-24: During Joe Biden's presidency, key players in Trump's MAGA movement lead a push for more details of the Epstein case to be made public. Some go on to play key roles in Trump's second administration: Vice-President JD Vance, FBI director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi.

A message calling on President Donald Trump to release all files related to Jeffrey Epstein is projected onto the US Chamber of Commerce building across from the White House in Washington, DC, on July 18, 2025.
A message calling on Trump to release all files related to Epstein is projected onto the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building across from the White House on July 18. (Alex Wroblewski/AFP/Getty Images)

2025

Feb. 21: A month after Trump's inauguration, Bondi is asked by Fox News whether the Justice Department will release Epstein's client list. "It's sitting on my desk right now to review," she responds, adding that a "truckload" of previously withheld evidence was being examined.

July 7: The Department of Justice announces that no more files related to the Epstein investigation will be released, and declares that no list of his clients exists. This angers some MAGA supporters, but both on social media and in exchanges with reporters, Trump tells people to stop talking about Epstein. 

WATCH | Trump launches social media barrage: 

Are Trump’s social posts an Epstein distraction tactic?

U.S. President Donald Trump has made a series of controversial social media posts, with some political scientists saying it's likely a tactic to divert attention away from the so-called Epstein files.

July 23: The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump had been briefed in May that his name is among many that appear in the Epstein files. The paper notes that this does not indicate any wrongdoing by Trump.

Aug. 2: Federal prison officials say that Epstein's former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking, has been transferred to a minimum-security prison camp. This comes just days after Maxwell met with Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, previously one of Trump's personal lawyers.

WATCH | How Trump reacted to charges against Maxwell in 2020: 

Trump says of Ghislaine Maxwell, 'I wish her well'

U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to be sympathetic to Ghislaine Maxwell when asked Tuesday about the British socialite, who is accused of aiding convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mike Crawley is a correspondent for CBC News, based in Washington. He began his career as a newspaper reporter in B.C., spent six years as a freelance journalist in various parts of Africa, then joined the CBC in 2005. Mike reported on Ontario politics for 15 years. He was born and raised in Saint John, N.B.