When did Jeffrey Epstein first associate with Mar-a-Lago?

1. A 1990s social connection: public parties and photographs

Multiple news accounts document Epstein attending Mar‑a‑Lago social events with Donald Trump in the 1990s; contemporaneous photos and party reports place the two men together at the club in that decade, establishing that Epstein was present at Mar‑a‑Lago as early as the 1990s ^{[2] [1] [5]}.

2. Victim and witness accounts linking Mar‑a‑Lago to Epstein’s circle

Court filings and testimony include claims that at least one woman who later accused Epstein’s associates said Epstein introduced her to Trump at Mar‑a‑Lago in the 1990s, and records assert that a young woman worked in the Mar‑a‑Lago spa around 2000 — details that tie Epstein’s network and some alleged victims to the club’s environment ^[5].

3. Disagreement over membership and ban timing

Donald Trump and his aides have said Epstein was kicked out of Mar‑a‑Lago years earlier for “being a creep” or for hiring away spa employees; some reporting cites Trump’s claim that he barred Epstein decades before Epstein’s criminal charges ^{[4] [6]}. Other sources note Epstein himself wrote that Trump “asked me to resign,” while simultaneously claiming he was “never a member ever,” a contradiction exposed in released emails ^{[3] [7]}.

4. Newly released Epstein emails complicate the timeline

House Oversight Committee documents and emails from Epstein reference Mar‑a‑Lago, allege people worked there, and suggest Trump visited Epstein’s house “many times during that period,” which keeps the chronology — when social ties began and when they ended — contested ^{[8] [9] [7]}.

5. Conflicting explanations for the falling out

Reporting presents competing explanations for the split: Trump says the break stemmed from Epstein poaching young spa employees, while other accounts suggest property disputes or different interpersonal tensions played a role; investigators and journalists have not reached a single, uncontested cause ^{[10] [11] [4]}.

6. Recent media reconstructions and their limits

As late as 2024–2025, outlets pieced together timelines from photos, witness statements, deposition testimony and Epstein’s own emails to show repeated Mar‑a‑Lago contact in the 1990s and references into the 2000s, but none of the available documents provide a definitive membership record or a universally agreed date for when Epstein “first associated” with the club beyond the broadly attested 1990s presence ^{[5] [1] [2]}.

7. What the sources do not confirm

Available sources do not mention a single, documentable date when Epstein “first” arrived at or joined Mar‑a‑Lago, nor do they produce definitive club membership records proving he was officially a member at a specific time; instead, reporting relies on photographs, eyewitness accounts, emails, and later legal testimony to map the relationship ^{[3] [2] [8]}.

8. How to read these competing claims

When sources conflict, weigh contemporaneous evidence — photos and party reports from the 1990s establish Epstein’s presence — against post‑hoc statements and later email claims that contradict each other about membership and the timing of a ban; journalists and investigators note the 1990s as the clear starting point for Epstein’s association with Mar‑a‑Lago, while precise membership status and the exact date of any expulsion remain disputed in the record ^{[1] [3] [4]}.

If you want, I can compile the specific photos, deposition excerpts, and the Epstein emails cited in these reports so you can see the primary snippets that reporters used to build the timeline (sources above: ^[2]; ^[5]; ^[3]; p1_s6).