On June 5, 2025, online users claimed U.S. President Donald Trump once called now-deceased financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein a "fun" and "terrific guy," adding, "It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side."
For example, progressive commentator Brian Tyler Cohen posted (archived), "Let's be fair here. Just because Elon says that Trump is in the Epstein files and just because there are dozens of photos and videos with Trump & Epstein together and just because Trump called Epstein a 'terrific guy' who 'likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side' and just because Trump said that he's 'less so' likely to release the Epstein files because 'you don't want to affect people's lives if it's phony stuff in there' and just because his administration has refused to actually release anything doesn't mean... okay yeah he's in the Epstein files."
Users on Bluesky (archived), Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived), Reddit (archived), Threads (archived), Truth Social (archived) and X (archived) also reposted the quote.
(Brian Tyler Cohen/X)
Trump genuinely called Epstein a "fun" and "terrific guy." The authentic quote appeared in the New York Magazine article, "Jeffrey Epstein: International Moneyman of Mystery," on Oct. 28, 2002, just over 14 years before Trump claimed victory in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and several years before Epstein registered as a convicted sex offender in 2008.
The relevant portion of the Trump phone interview transcript read:
Epstein likes to tell people that he's a loner, a man who's never touched alcohol or drugs, and one whose nightlife is far from energetic. And yet if you talk to Donald Trump, a different Epstein emerges. "I've known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy," Trump booms from a speakerphone. "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. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life."
Cohen's statement that Trump was "less" likely to release the Epstein files than other files because "you don't want to affect people's lives if it's phony stuff in there" referenced authentic remarks broadcast during a Fox News interview in 2024.
The quote from the 2002 interview spread on June 5, 2025, the same day a sudden rift widened between Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who days earlier departed his White House adviser role. In posts on his platform, X, Musk alleged Trump appeared in unreleased government files associated with Epstein's activities, and that that was why no one, Trump included, had yet released the documents.
In a statement emailed to Snopes, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted. The President is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again."
Trump addressed 2002 quote about Epstein
On July 6, 2019, federal authorities arrested Epstein and then indicted him on charges of the sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors.
Three days later, on July 9, an unidentified reporter asked Trump in the Oval Office, "Do you still think Jeffrey Epstein is a 'terrific guy?'"
In response, Trump said three times that he was not a "fan" of Epstein's:
Well, I knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him. I mean, people in Palm Beach knew him. He was a fixture in Palm Beach. I had a falling out with him a long time ago. I don't think I've spoken to him for 15 years. I wasn't a fan. I was not, yeah, a long time ago, I'd say maybe 15 years. I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you. I was not a fan of his.
At the time, Politico posted (archived) a video of Trump's full answer:
Weeks later, on Aug. 10, guards found Epstein dead in his jail cell. An autopsy ruled he died of suicide by hanging, setting off a wave of new conspiracy theories.
Trump on Ghislaine Maxwell: 'I wish her well'
In a related remark, in July 2020, an unidentified reporter asked Trump about the case involving Epstein associate, and later convicted sex trafficker, Ghislaine Maxwell, who, at the time, the U.S. Justice Department had just arrested and charged for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors. During his answer, Trump said, "I just wish her well, frankly." He then mentioned a second time, "I wish her well."
More than one year later, on Dec. 29, 2021, a jury convicted Maxwell of multiple charges. A judge then sentenced her to 20 years in prison for what the U.S. Justice Department described as "her role in a scheme to sexually exploit and abuse multiple minor girls with Jeffrey Epstein over the course of a decade."
Days prior to her conviction, the Miami Herald published information about flights that Trump had taken on Epstein's jets. According to the reporting, flight logs showed Trump had flown at least seven times, with all of the flights being between Palm Beach, Florida and New York City airports. Meanwhile, former President Bill Clinton had flown on Epstein's jets at least nine times. In a statement, a spokesperson for Clinton said in 2019 that Clinton knew "nothing" about Epstein's crimes.
For further reading, a previous fact check examined whether or not Musk genuinely posted on X that Trump "would have lost" the 2024 election without his efforts.