Trump Says Epstein Was Banned From Mar-A-Lago For "Stealing" Women From Spa

Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein used Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to "steal" young women, the US President has said. 

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday, Trump recounted his decision to expel Epstein from the private Palm Beach club after learning the disgraced financier had recruited staff from the resort's luxury spa.

"I have a great spa, one of the best spas in the world, at Mar-a-Lago. And people were taken out of the spa, hired by [Epstein]," Trump said while returning from a five-day trip to Scotland, as per Time Magazine.

Trump said, "When I heard about it, I told him, I said, 'Listen, we don't want you taking our people,' whether it was spa or not spa, I don't want him taking people. And he was fine. And then not too long after that, he did it again. And I said, 'Out of here.'"

"Everyone knows the people that were taken, and the concept of taking people that work for me is bad," Trump said.

Among the young women believed to have been recruited by Epstein from Mar-a-Lago was Virginia Giuffre, who later accused Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell of sexual abuse. Ms Giuffre, who died by suicide earlier this year, had worked as a spa attendant at the resort, where her father was employed as a maintenance worker.

"I think she worked at the spa. I think so. I think that was one of the people. Yeah, he stole her," Trump said. "And by the way, she had no complaints about us, as you know. None whatsoever."

Ms Giuffre first came forward with her claims in 2011, alleging she was trafficked by Epstein and forced to have sex with high-profile individuals, including the UK's Prince Andrew. She later won a defamation lawsuit against Maxwell in 2017, which led to the unsealing of court documents only one day before Epstein was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell in August 2019.

The Epstein case returned to spotlight earlier this month following the release of a Justice Department memo, which said the sex offender died by suicide and did not leave behind a "client list" implicating powerful figures.

Trump's past ties to the sex trafficker have also come under renewed scrutiny following fresh allegations by Stacey Williams, Epstein's ex-girlfriend. She described Trump as Epstein's "best friend" and "wingman" in the 1990s and accused him of groping her during a 1993 visit to Trump Tower, calling it a "twisted game" between the two men.

Trump has denied the claims and dismissed them as false.