The US President Donald Trump has said he ended his relationship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein after he repeatedly hired people who had worked for him, a betrayal that led Trump to eject Epstein from his private Florida club.
Trump made the remarks during a joint appearance with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland on Monday.
He was responding to a reporter’s question about his past ties to Epstein.
"That’s such old history, very easy to explain, but I don’t want to waste your time by explaining it," Trump said, before adding: "He did something that was inappropriate. He hired help and I said, ‘Don’t ever do that again.’ He did it again, and I threw him out of the place, persona non grata."
"I threw him out and that was it. I’m glad I did, if you want to know the truth," he said.
The White House communications director, Steven Cheung, recently said on social media platform X that Trump had "kicked him out of his club for being a creep".
Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, according to US authorities.
Trump and some of his allies previously cast doubt on that conclusion, fuelling conspiracy theories before the Justice Department reaffirmed that Epstein had taken his own life.
The issue resurfaced last week when the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had contributed to a 2003 birthday book for Epstein.
The report cited a drawing resembling a woman’s body and a note referencing shared secrets, allegedly signed by Trump.
Trump has denied the claim.
"I don’t do drawings of women, that I can tell you," he said on Monday.
Fallout and calls for transparency
On July 18, Trump filed a defamation lawsuit against the Journal, its parent company Dow Jones, owner Rupert Murdoch, and the reporters behind the story.
In a new court filing on Monday, Trump’s lawyers asked a US federal court in Miami to compel Murdoch, 94, to give a deposition within 15 days, citing his advanced age as a reason for urgency.
Dow Jones has not commented on the request but previously said it stood by its reporting and would "vigorously defend" the article.
The Epstein case has remained politically sensitive for Trump. Vice President JD Vance was met by protesters in his home state of Ohio on Monday, where demonstrators held signs accusing the Republican Party of shielding Epstein’s associates.
Vance, speaking during a factory visit to promote Trump’s tax and border policies, defended the administration’s stance.
"The president has been very clear. We're not shielding anything," he said. "He wants full transparency. He’s directed the attorney general to release all credible information and to find more, if necessary."
Trump previously said he hadn’t spoken to Epstein in about 15 years and that the financier had long been a fixture in Palm Beach social circles.
