Clinton claims Trump told him of ‘some great times with Epstein’

WASHINGTON: Former US president Bill Clinton told lawmakers that President Donald Trump had once confided to him he had “some great times” with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein before their relationship soured.

In a videotaped deposition to the House of Representatives Oversight Committee last week, which was released on Monday, Clinton said under oath that Trump had brought up Epstein at a golf tournament in 2002 or 2003, after Clinton left office, and more than a decade before Trump was elected president.

“Somehow he knew I had flown in Jeffrey Epstein’s aircraft,” Clinton told the committee. “He said, ‘You know, we had some great times together over the years, but we fell out all because of a real estate deal’.”

Trump has previously said his relationship with Epstein soured after he hired young women who worked at the Mar-a-Lago club.

Says he never visited Epstein’s island, claims ignorance of sex offender’s 17 White House visits during his 1993-2001 presidency

Clinton said the exchange did not lead him to believe Trump was involved with anything improper with regards to Epstein.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Both Clinton and Trump associated with Epstein before the well-connected financier pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a minor. Epstein was arrested again in 2019 and died in prison while facing federal sex-trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.

Clinton has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has said he regrets his association with Epstein.

Epstein as ‘donor’

Videos of last week’s testimony showed Clinton perusing evidence, including photographs of him that were released as part of the Epstein files.

The former president said he was introduced to Epstein by his former treasury secretary Larry Summers, who described Epstein as a donor who was willing to fly Clinton and his staff around the globe as he set up a charitable AIDS foundation.

The former president said he flew on Epstein’s jet on trips to Asia, Africa and Europe, and once from Florida to New York, but moved on to other donors after 2003.

“I thought Mr Epstein was an interesting man, but I didn’t think he was really interested in what I was doing,” Clinton said.

He said he never had sexual contact with anyone introduced by the late financier or his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, but did receive a neck massage from a flight attendant, later identified as an Epstein abuse survivor.

Clinton said he did not know that Epstein had abused girls who were recruited as masseuses.

“I didn’t think it was anything unusual. I can’t tell you how many planes I’ve been on where rich people asked me to go and they had someone offering massage.

“All these boats that you go on and all that, they all do that. And usually I don’t do that,” he said.

Clinton also said he never visited Epstein’s Caribbean island and did not know that Epstein had visited the White House 17 times during his 1993-2001 presidency.ww

Earlier, his wife Hillary Clinton, had testified that she did not recall ever meeting Epstein, and called on the panel to depose President Trump.

The closed-door depositions were held last week in Chappaqua, New York, where the Clintons reside.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2026