Jeffrey Epstein once described President Donald Trump as a “maniac” showing signs of “early dementia,” according to newly released emails.
The convicted sex trafficker, who was once a close associate of the real estate mogul, had soured on Trump by the time he entered the White House in 2017. At the time, Epstein wrote that there was “not one decent cell in his body.”
Emails released by the House Oversight Committee reveal that Epstein frequently criticized Trump during his first presidential term, including in messages to Thomas Landon Jr., a former New York Times finance reporter.
“No questions donalds statement was goofy,” Epstein wrote in January 2018, referring to a statement Trump made in response to a Michael Wolff book. “Early dementia?”
Trump, 79, has faced growing scrutiny over his health this year, including concerns about his mental capacity.
Epstein’s most scathing remarks came in correspondence with Kathryn Ruemmler, who once served as principal deputy White House counsel under President Barack Obama.
In December 2018, Epstein emailed Ruemmler, writing: “You might want to tell your dem friends that treating trump like a mafia don ignores the fact that he has great dangerous power. Tightening the noose too slowly risks a very bad situation. Gambino was never the commander in chief — there was little Gambino could do as the walls closed in. Not so with this maniac.”
In a separate email, Epstein claimed that Trump was not truly close to anyone — a sentiment that aligns with what the financier reportedly told author Michael Wolff in bombshell tapes first published by The Daily Beast last year.
“Donald is close to no one,” Epstein wrote in 2018 to Emirati businessman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem. “He talks to many people. He tells each one something different.”
Epstein took his own life in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Although his emails suggest he may have grown critical of Trump in his later years, he was photographed smiling alongside Trump several times during the 1990s and 2000s.
Their relationship has remained a defining issue for MAGA 2.0. While Trump has deployed troops to Democratic-led cities, conducted ICE raids at night, fired federal employees en masse, and engaged in high-profile tariff battles, Epstein’s story has continued to draw attention.
Trump, 79, has urged his supporters to ease demands for the release of Epstein-related files. He has described his connection with Epstein as distant and no longer relevant, though many of his voters disagree.
Both Democrats and some Republicans, including former MAGA supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene, have kept the Epstein issue in the spotlight. New details about Trump’s association with Epstein continue to emerge, with the latest revelations released Wednesday morning.
A set of Epstein emails, made public by House Democrats who obtained them from his estate, alleged that Trump “spent hours” at Epstein’s residence with one of his victims.
Another email claimed that Trump “knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop,” referring to Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who recruited victims for his sex trafficking operation. This year, Trump has neither ruled out a pardon for Maxwell nor resisted offering her a more comfortable transfer to a minimum-security facility with amenities such as pilates and dogs.
Less than four hours after the initial email release on Wednesday, Republican lawmakers published over 20,000 private Epstein-related documents, though none appear to include direct correspondence with Trump.
Many of the emails were mundane, showing Epstein coordinating with his private jet staff to adjust flight times at Palm Beach International Airport to avoid conflicts with Trump’s frequent trips to Mar-a-Lago during his first term.
However, some emails offered damning glimpses into Epstein’s past friendship with Trump. One notable instance included Epstein offering Landon a photograph of Trump with young women in bikinis inside Epstein’s kitchen.
Epstein asked the journalist, “Would you like photos of Donald and girls in bikinis in my kitchen?”
The then-New York Times reporter replied, “Yes!!!”
“Hawaiian Tropic girl Lauren Petrella,” Epstein wrote in response.
In another message, Epstein shared a link to an article about Norwegian businesswoman Celina Midelfart, describing her as “my 20-year-old girlfriend in ’93, that after two years I gave to Donald.”
Trump dismissed the latest email release, which came from a bipartisan investigation, as a Democrat-driven “hoax.”
“The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects,” he posted on Truth Social.
When contacted for comment, a New York Times spokesperson told the Daily Beast: “Landon Thomas Jr. has not worked at The Times since early 2019 after editors discovered his failure to abide by our ethical standards.”
