NEED TO KNOW
President Donald Trump said that Jeffrey Epstein “stole” Virginia Giuffre from his Mar-a-Lago spa in Florida while speaking to reporters on Tuesday, July 29.
Trump elaborated on previous comments he made over the weekend about falling out with Epstein because Epstein allegedly poached employees from his club.
“He took people that worked for me. And I told him, ‘Don’t do it anymore.’ And he did it,” Trump said, telling reporters that he barred Epstein from Mar-a-Lago.
Mark Kauzlarich/Bloomberg via Getty
“I said, ‘Stay the hell out of here,’ ” he recalled.
Trump said many of them were young women who worked in the club’s spa.
“The answer is yes, they were in the spa,” he said. “I told him, I said, ‘Listen, we don’t want you taking our people, whether it was spa or not spa.’ … And he was fine. And then not too long after that, he did it again.”
When asked if Giuffre was one of these employees, the president said, “I think she worked at the spa… I think so. I think that was one of the people. He stole her, and by the way, she had no complaints about us, as you know, none whatsoever.”
Giuffre worked in the spa during the summer of 2000 and was recruited by Ghislaine Maxwell to work for Epstein, and alleged the pair groomed her and forced her to have sex with Epstein and others as part of an elaborate sex ring, from which she escaped in 2002. The late Giuffre had accused both Epstein and Prince Andrew of sexual abuse. Prince Andrew has denied the allegations.
White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement last week that Trump booted Epstein from Mar-a-Lago “for being a creep.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Epstein, 66, was found hanging inside a jail cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City on the morning of Aug. 10, 2019, where he was awaiting trial on federal conspiracy and sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
Giuffre died by suicide on April 25 at her home in the suburbs of Perth, Australia. She was 41.
PEOPLE reached out to her attorney for comment.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
This is a breaking news story that will be updated.
