CNN
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Newly discovered archive footage and photos reveal new details about Donald Trump’s past relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Photos from 1993 first confirmed Epstein's participation in Trump's 1993 wedding to Mara Maple. Epstein's attendance at the Plaza Hotel was not known until now.
Additionally, videos from the 1999 Secret Fashion Event in Victoria, New York showed Trump and Epstein chatting with laughter before the runway event. In the 1990s and 2000s, CNN's KFILE found the original footage in comments on Trump's archive video. Trump and Epstein appeared together in limited archive footage, at least in one video.
CNN's KFILE spotted Trump and Epstein's video at Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 1999
CNN's KFILE spotted Trump and Epstein's video at Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 1999
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New videos and photos have not been widely reported and are ahead of the legal issues known to Epstein in advance, due to a review of Trump’s past relationship with Epstein. The Justice Department's recent decision not to release archives of long-term propaganda related to Epstein has sparked anger in some corners of the Trump magazine movement, where expectations for the bombshell revelation created for Epstein's alleged complicity.
President Trump asked about wedding photos on a brief call with CNN on Tuesday, responding, “You have to be kidding me” and then repeatedly called CNN “fake news” and hung up the phone.
“These are nothing more than taking out harmless videos and photos of widespread attendance to despise evil things,” White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement to CNN.
“The fact is that the president kicked him out of the club for crawling. It's nothing more than a continuation of fake news stories consolidated by the Democratic Party and the free media.”
Allegations of Epstein's sexual abuse of a minor girl first surfaced in 2005, leading to his arrest a year later. He was again arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019 and later died in prison, fueling many conspiracy theories. The medical examiner ruled that his death was suicide.
Trump's relationship with Epstein dates back to the 1980s and regularly made appearances at social events in Palm Beach and New York. No law enforcement authorities accuse Trump of being associated with Epstein.
The two men emerged in the mid-2000s due to controversy over a high-profile real estate deal in Palm Beach, according to The Washington Post.
Prior to this, the photos and videos repeatedly showed that the two were friendly. In 2019, NBC released videos of a party showing Trump socializing with Epstein in 1992.
A year later, in October 1993, high society photographer Dafydd Jones captured Trump and Epstein together at the opening ceremony of Harley Davidson Cafe in New York.
Jones recalled in an interview with CNN this week: “There was a guy there who hit me—his opinion.
Jones leaned against Epstein, leaned against the railing, grabbing Trump's photo.
Two months later, in December 1993, Jones was assigned by a media organization to film Trump's wedding. In the photo he took, Epstein attended the event.
“I must have known him [to the event]Jones told CNN, adding that he only took one photo of attendees he thought were interesting.
“I hope now I'm taking more people with Trump,” he said. “I have the job of taking photos of Trump's wedding, so I'm standing in the media and taking photos. Your image comes from the contact sheet – the negatives are lost.”
Another photo captures Epstein at Trump’s wedding, part of the CNN reviewed Life Archive. It shows Epstein smiling in the background – his head is visible among other guests, while shocked Jock Howard Stern and Robin Leach are “the lifestyle of the rich and famous people” who are taking a group photo.
Life has collected dozens of photos of Trump’s wedding photos, available online via Google Images and Shutterstock, and CNN has made multiple photos of the photos in the photos.
The 1999 fashion show wasn't the first secret event in Victoria that the two attended together. Two photos of Getty's image show Trump and Epstein appearing at the Angels party in New York in 1997, two years before the video was discovered by CNN.
Epstein's presence at the 1999 fashion show also reflects his long-term connection with Leslie Wexner, the parent company of Victoria's Secret. Epstein managed Wexner's financial position from around 1987 to 2007. The two later went on and off, Wexner said he didn't know what Epstein had allegedly committed during his association.
In 2002, Trump quoted “Jeffrey Epstein: The International Mysterious Man” in an Epstein New York magazine – calling him “a great guy” and said he was famous for 15 years at Epstein. “Even said he likes beautiful women like me, many of whom are on the younger side,” Trump said.
According to the flight log, Trump flew seven times on the Epstein jet between Palm Beach and New York.
Trump wrote in his 2004 book Trump: How to Get Rich, saying he called a man named “Mysterious Jeffrey.”
“As mysterious as Jeffrey, he is one of the few people I know who can only get by name. My staff never asked for a last name in his case, which in some way brought him there with Elvis. Elvis isn't like this these days, many days, but you never know.”
It is not clear whether the “Mysterious Jeffrey” is Epstein, and the White House has not addressed it in its comments on CNN.
Images published in the Palm Beach Post in 2000 also showed Trump, Epstein assistant Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexual trafficking, and Prince Andrew participated in a charity fundraising event at Mar-A-Lago.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported a birthday message with the name of Trump's 50th anniversary of Epstein's birth in 2003. According to the Journal, it contains the outline of a naked woman and ends with a line: “Happy birthday, every day will be another wonderful secret.”
Following the report, the Trump administration promised to release a grand jury related to Epstein. The federal judge overseeing the Maxwell case provided information to the Department of Justice to determine whether to delete the transcript.
The Justice Department said Tuesday it had contacted Maxwell in a situation where the government handles files related to Epstein.
Maxwell's lawyer told CNN they were “in discussions with the government.” “Ghislaine will always testify truthfully. We thank President Trump for his commitment to reveal the truth in this situation,” said lawyer David Oscar Markus.
Trump denied the bill and painted it, saying the report was wrong. He sued newspaper libel in Florida federal court on Friday.