What did Donald Trump say about Jeffrey Epstein in 2002?

1. The 2002 quote: what Trump actually said

The exact wording most outlets reproduce comes from a New York magazine profile published in 2002: Trump said he’d “known Jeff for 15 years,” called him a “terrific guy” and “a lot of fun to be with,” and added the line commonly quoted about Epstein liking “beautiful women” and that “many of them are on the younger side” ^{[1] [2] [3]}. Major news organizations and aggregators — including TIME, PBS, Reuters summaries, CNN and others — cite that passage when summarizing what Trump said in 2002 ^{[4] [7] [8] [9] [6]}.

2. How newspapers and later reporting have used the line

Reporters have repeatedly used the 2002 passage as a touchstone when recounting Trump’s relationship with Epstein, especially as new documents or emails emerged that mention Trump and Epstein decades later ^{[4] [6]}. Outlets including The Atlantic, Rolling Stone and Forbes summarize that 2002 passage as evidence Trump once praised Epstein and noted Epstein’s attraction to “younger” women ^{[10] [5] [3]}.

3. Why the quote matters in later coverage

Journalists and analysts have used Trump’s 2002 praise to raise questions about what Trump knew and when about Epstein’s conduct, particularly after the release of thousands of Epstein-related documents and emails; news pieces point to the 2002 remark as part of a pattern that feeds those inquiries ^{[6] [9]}. Fact-checking and analysis pieces reference the quote when evaluating claims that Epstein’s circle included high-profile figures and when assessing competing narratives about Trump’s distance from Epstein after Epstein’s criminal exposure ^{[11] [9]}.

4. Disputes and context offered by Trump and allies

When Epstein’s legal troubles and later document releases rekindled attention on the relationship, Trump’s camp pushed back in different ways: distancing himself, saying he “was not a fan” in later comments, and disputing some documents or suggested letters as fake in separate reporting ^{[5] [8]}. Coverage notes that Trump later claimed to have had a falling out and that he hadn’t spoken to Epstein in many years, which his spokespeople and the White House reiterated as the story evolved ^{[5] [7]}.

5. What follow-on reporting adds — socializing, flights and timelines

Subsequent investigatory pieces built a broader timeline: reporting that Trump and Epstein socialized in the 1990s and early 2000s, that Trump flew on Epstein’s planes in the 1990s according to flight logs, and that images and anecdotes show them at parties and Mar-a-Lago events — all contextual details reporters attach to the 2002 quote ^{[10] [3] [2]}.

6. Limitations in the public record and what the sources don’t say

Available sources repeatedly reprint the 2002 New York magazine passage but do not, in the materials provided here, include the full New York interview transcript or surrounding context beyond the quoted lines; none of the provided items claim the New York piece was fabricated ^{[1] [4]}. The documents released later (emails and memos) mention Trump in relation to Epstein but, per FactCheck.org’s summary, do not themselves establish specific criminal knowledge by Trump as presented in those releases — available sources do not mention direct evidence in these cited materials that Trump knew of Epstein’s criminal acts at that time ^[11].

7. Competing viewpoints and implicit agendas in sources

Mainstream outlets (TIME, PBS, Reuters, CNN) use the quote to probe accountability and timelines; opinion-oriented outlets and some tabloids reuse the line for sensational framing ^{[4] [9] [12]}. Trump and supporters frame his later distancing and denials as exculpatory and have challenged some documents’ authenticity or interpretation ^{[8] [5]}. Readers should note that both sides have incentives: journalists pursue fact-gathering and narrative scrutiny, while political actors aim to limit reputational damage or shift scrutiny elsewhere.

8. Bottom line for readers

The best-supported summary from the sources provided: in 2002 Trump publicly praised Epstein and made the oft-cited comment about Epstein liking “beautiful women” including “many of them … on the younger side” ^{[1] [2] [3]}. Later reporting and document releases have used that 2002 quote as context for probing the depth and implications of their association, but the materials cited here do not by themselves prove what Trump did or did not know about Epstein’s criminal conduct ^{[6] [11]}.