What exact quotes did Donald Trump make about Jeffrey Epstein in 2002 and what was their original context?
Executive summary
In 2002 Donald Trump gave a short, widely quoted appraisal of Jeffrey Epstein to New York magazine that praised Epstein as a companionable social figure and openly referenced Epstein’s taste for “younger” women; that passage has been repeatedly cited in later reporting when questions about their past friendship resurfaced [1] [2]. The remark came in a society-profile context—part of a broader depiction of Epstein’s place in New York’s wealthy social set—and was uttered well before Epstein’s later criminal charges and convictions, a timing important to understanding its original intent and subsequent political weight [1] [3].
1. The exact lines Trump spoke in 2002 and where they appeared
The most commonly cited passage attributed to Trump reads: “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.” That wording appears in multiple contemporary and retrospective accounts that quote a 2002 New York magazine profile of Epstein and is reproduced in outlets including Rolling Stone and Business Insider [1] [2].
2. Immediate context in the New York magazine profile — a social portrait, not a legal finding
The quote was part of a social-profile piece that sketched Epstein’s wealth, parties and social circles rather than alleging criminal conduct: reporters were describing Epstein as a fixture of elite nightlife, and Trump’s lines read as an endorsement of Epstein’s personality and social habits, including a cavalier reference to liking “younger” women—a comment tied to reputation and rumor rather than to an investigation or criminal charge at that time [1] [3].
3. How the line has been used since—resurfacing after crimes and arrests
Reporters and critics resurrected the 2002 quote after Epstein’s first high-profile legal troubles and his 2019 arrest, treating it as evidence of how figures in Epstein’s orbit publicly normalized or joked about his interest in younger women; news outlets and aggregators have pointed to the line as emblematic of a social tolerance that predated confirmed allegations and convictions [2] [1]. That retrospective framing has shaped political and cultural debates about responsibility, awareness and the social networks around Epstein [1].
4. Trump’s later statements and the disputed narrative about their friendship
Trump’s camp and the president himself later sought to distance him from Epstein: in a 2019 press exchange Trump said they had a falling out “a long time ago” and that he “hadn’t spoken to him in probably 15 years or more,” language that undercuts continued close ties while acknowledging a prior friendship [1]. Major outlets including The New York Times and others have documented shifting and sometimes contradictory accounts of the relationship, noting both earlier convivial comments and later efforts to minimize the connection [4] [1].
5. What these sources do—and do not—establish
Contemporary and later reporting reliably establishes that Trump made the quoted remarks in 2002 in the context of a society magazine profile and that those remarks praised Epstein socially and referenced his interest in younger women [1] [2] [3]. The sources do not provide a verbatim, full original transcript beyond the reproduced lines cited by multiple outlets; nor do they convert the 2002 social comment into a legal finding about either man—the legal record and journalistic profiles remain distinct bodies of evidence [1] [2]. Alternative viewpoints exist in the reporting: some outlets and Trump allies emphasize the passage as harmless social banter and point to the later “falling out,” while critics treat it as an example of early, casual normalization of troubling behavior [1] [4].