What did George Houraney tell The New York Times in full about the 1992 Mar‑a‑Lago event?
Executive summary
George Houraney told The New York Times that in 1992 he organized a “calendar girl” competition at Mar‑a‑Lago, that he “arranged to have some contestants fly in,” and that when the women arrived the only guests at the event besides Donald Trump were Jeffrey Epstein — a detail that surprised him [1] [2] [3]. Reporting also records Houraney saying he warned Trump about Epstein and “pretty much had to ban Jeff from my events,” but the available secondary reports do not publish a complete transcript of Houraney’s New York Times interview [4] [2].
1. The event Houraney says he organized: a “calendar girl” competition
Houraney told The New York Times he organized a members‑only “calendar girl” competition at Mar‑a‑Lago in 1992 at Trump’s request and that he “arranged to have some contestants fly in” to Palm Beach for the evening [1] [2] [5]. Multiple outlets summarizing the NYT reporting repeat that Houraney said roughly 28 women were brought in to provide the evening’s entertainment, framing the affair as an organized promotional contest rather than a spontaneous gathering [3] [6] [2].
2. The moment of surprise: “You’re telling me it’s you and Epstein?”
Houraney’s clearest anecdote, quoted in the Times and reproduced across outlets, recounts his surprise when he checked the guest list and learned that the advertised VIPs were not coming — leaving Trump and Jeffrey Epstein as the only male guests; Houraney is quoted saying, “I said, ‘Donald, this is supposed to be a party with V.I.P.s. You’re telling me it’s you and Epstein?’” [3] [4] [2]. That exchange is the linchpin of the anecdote, and it is reported consistently by Vanity Fair, Slate, Business Insider and others summarizing the NYT piece [4] [2] [1].
3. Houraney’s other remarks about Epstein and later fallout
Houraney told the Times he had concerns about Epstein’s behavior: he said he “pretty much had to ban Jeff from my events” because Epstein would “go after younger girls,” and he described telling Trump about those concerns — an exchange that outlets cite to explain why Houraney felt uncomfortable with Epstein’s presence [2] [4]. Reporting also places this anecdote in a broader context in which Houraney and his then‑girlfriend Jill Harth later accused Trump of unwanted advances, an allegation that led to legal action in the late 1990s; those related claims are reported alongside Houraney’s Mar‑a‑Lago account in summaries of the NYT reporting [7] [4].
4. What the reporting does not provide: no published “full” transcript in available sources
None of the secondary stories summarizing the New York Times article republishes a complete, verbatim transcript of Houraney’s full interview with the Times; they present key quoted lines and paraphrases — the reported “I arranged to have some contestants fly in,” “28 girls,” and the surprised rebuke to Trump — but not a full, unedited statement [1] [2] [3]. Therefore it is not possible, based on the supplied sources, to deliver “what George Houraney told The New York Times in full” beyond the direct quotations and paraphrases reproduced by those outlets [4] [5].
5. Competing interpretations and why the anecdote matters
News organizations use Houraney’s anecdote to illustrate the closeness of Trump and Epstein in the 1990s and to raise questions about the contexts in which Epstein operated; others argue the detail simply shows social familiarity without alleging criminal conduct at that event — several reports explicitly note the NYT piece did not allege misconduct during the party itself [8] [9]. The anecdote’s scarcity of corroborating full text and the presence of differing emphases in later coverage — some outlets focus on the sensational number of women flown in, others on Houraney’s warning about Epstein — mean readers must weigh a vivid personal recollection against the absence of a complete published interview in the available reporting [6] [10].