What specific incident led to Jeffrey Epstein's ban from Mar-a-Lago around 2007?

1. What the contemporary books and investigations say: a membership record and a closed account

Multiple outlets rely on reporting from the 2020 book The Grifter’s Club and accompanying journalism that authors and reporters viewed Mar‑a‑Lago’s membership registry showing Epstein’s account was closed in October 2007; those same accounts link the closure to an incident involving a member’s teenage daughter being hit on by Epstein ^{[2] [6] [3]}.

2. The commonly reported triggering incident: alleged harassment of a member’s teenage daughter

Several news organizations and timelines state the proximate cause for the ban was Epstein’s alleged inappropriate conduct toward a teenage daughter of a Mar‑a‑Lago member — described variously as “hitting on” or “sexually harassing” the girl — and that the girl’s father reportedly confronted Trump, who then told Epstein he was barred from the club ^{[7] [2] [1]}.

3. Trump’s public explanation: “stealing” spa employees

Donald Trump has given a different public account, saying he expelled Epstein after learning Epstein had recruited or “stole” young women from Mar‑a‑Lago’s spa, citing staffers such as Virginia Giuffre as examples; PolitiFact and other outlets record Trump’s description of the estrangement as due to poaching employees rather than the member’s daughter incident ^{[5] [4] [1]}.

4. How reporters reconcile the competing explanations

Reporting presents both threads: the membership registry closure in late 2007 and claims by club insiders that the proximate cause was harassment of a member’s teenage daughter, while Trump’s own statements emphasize staff recruitment. Outlets such as PBS, Rolling Stone, CNBC and others present both the registry evidence and the rival explanations rather than a single definitive narrative ^{[1] [7] [8]}.

5. Timing and legal context: why 2007 matters

The alleged Mar‑a‑Lago ban occurred around the same period Epstein faced intense scrutiny and legal action: he was indicted in 2007 in Florida and later entered a 2008 nonprosecution agreement. Multiple reports note Epstein remained listed as a Mar‑a‑Lago member through October 2007, even though some of Trump’s public comments imply an earlier break in the relationship ^{[8] [2] [9]}.

6. Limits of the available reporting and unanswered questions

Available sources rely on a mix of a book’s footnote access to a membership registry, unnamed club members, and Trump’s own statements; they do not present a verbatim contemporaneous club memo from Trump ordering the ban, nor direct on‑the‑record confirmation from Mar‑a‑Lago management in the cited pieces. Therefore the precise sequence — who confronted whom, exact dates of confrontation, and whether the “poaching” or the alleged harassment was the decisive factor — remains presented as competing accounts in the public record ^{[6] [1] [5]}.

7. Why narratives diverge: incentives and perspectives in the sources

The book and Miami Herald–style reporting emphasize member and registry evidence that cast Epstein’s removal as reactive to alleged harassment of a minor ^{[3] [6]}, while Trump’s narrative reframes the split around business harm to Mar‑a‑Lago (staff poaching), which shifts emphasis away from sexual misconduct. Each framing serves different reputational purposes: one underscores a misconduct trigger tied to a minor, the other stresses a business grievance that portrays Trump as protecting his club ^{[5] [4]}.

8. Bottom line for readers

Available reporting converges on: Epstein was removed from Mar‑a‑Lago around October 2007 and the proximate cause is widely reported as Epstein’s inappropriate advances toward a member’s teenage daughter, while Trump has described the break as resulting from Epstein recruiting spa employees; the public record contains both accounts and does not provide a single contemporaneous document that resolves which explanation drove the decision ^{[2] [7] [5]}.