Where were the 8 flights Trump took on Epstein’s plane going?
Executive summary
Publicly released DOJ flight records and related emails indicate Donald Trump is listed as a passenger on at least eight flights on Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet between 1993 and 1996, but the documents made public so far identify the routings for only a single flight (Palm Beach to Teterboro); most of the records that prompted the “eight flights” figure do not include complete destination data in the materials released to date [1] [2] [3].
1. What the records actually say about the eight flights
A January 2020 email from a federal prosecutor, produced in the DOJ’s tranche of Epstein files, states Trump “is listed as a passenger on at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996,” and notes that on multiple occasions Ghislaine Maxwell and other passengers—some later identified as potential witnesses in her case—were aboard; the e‑mail and accompanying flight logs are the source of the eight‑flight assertion but do not, in the sections cited by news outlets, enumerate full itineraries for each trip [3] [1] [4].
2. The lone identified routing: PBI → TEB, 13 August 1995
Among the handwritten flight logs released by the DOJ, one entry that media outlets flagged lists Donald Trump and his son Eric on a flight dated 13 August 1995 originating at PBI (Palm Beach International Airport, Florida) and arriving at TEB (Teterboro Airport, New Jersey), making this the only specific routing publicly referenced in multiple reports derived from the released materials [2].
3. Why destinations are mostly unknown in the public record
Reporting from Reuters, PBS, NPR and others emphasizes that the prosecutor’s note and the flight log excerpts identify passengers more often than they catalogue routes or purposes; multiple outlets report particular flights where passenger lists (e.g., a 1993 flight with only Epstein and Trump, or another with a redacted 20‑year‑old passenger) are described, but the public documents as reported do not supply complete destination or itinerary information for the remaining flights [1] [4] [3] [5].
4. Context, caveats and competing claims in the files
The DOJ itself cautioned that parts of the released material contain “untrue and sensationalist claims” submitted to investigators and that release does not equate to verification of allegations; the files also contain many media clippings, unverified tips, and redactions, and the department has said it met statutory release obligations while noting those limits [2] [6]. News organizations reviewing the batch found thousands of references to Trump, but stressed those include salacious and unverified material alongside public records and previously known documents [7] [6].
5. Political responses and unresolved questions
Trump has publicly denied being on Epstein’s plane or island and said he would litigate perceived false claims, while his defenders and the White House have pushed back against what they call unverified or politically motivated allegations; reporters and prosecutors, by contrast, underscore that passenger listings in flight logs are not in themselves proof of criminal conduct but are relevant to understanding associations and movements in the 1990s [8] [1] [5]. Because the publicly available excerpts and prosecutor email focus on who was listed rather than a comprehensive manifest of destinations, the clear reporting conclusion is narrow: eight flights are referenced as carrying Trump, and only one routings (PBI to TEB on Aug. 13, 1995) has been explicitly identified in the released materials cited by major outlets [1] [2] [3].