Trump’s Latest Comments About Epstein Are ‘Pretty Weird’

President Trump on Tuesday headed home from Scotland, knowing that the controversy over Jeffrey Epstein awaits him in Washington. Aboard Air Force One, Trump told reporters he ended his relationship with Epstein after the disgraced financier “stole” an employee from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

“People were taken out of the spa, hired by Epstein,” the president said. “I told him we don’t want you taking our people, whether it’s spa or not spa. He did it again and I said, ‘out of here.’”

Asked by a reporter if one of the poached employees was Virginia Giuffre, a pool attendant who became one of the most outspoken victims of Epstein, said she was groomed and recruited by Epstein’s partner Ghislaine Maxwell before ultimately being hired as a “masseuse.” Giuffre, who died earlier this year by suicide, had reported being repeatedly sexually assaulted by Epstein.

“Yeah, he stole her,” Trump said of Epstein hiring away Giuffre. “I think she worked at the spa. I think so. I think that was one of the people.”

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, reacting to the president’s comments in a post on the social media platform Bluesky, said “Given the option of saying (about the most notorious pedophile in American history) that ‘I ended our friendship because he was a creep’ or ‘I ended our friendship because I don’t like it when people try to poach my staff,’ IT’S PRETTY WEIRD TO GO WITH THE LAST ONE!!!”

Trump faced repeated questions about Epstein during his trip to Scotland, with the president saying on Monday that “for years, I wouldn’t talk to Jeffrey Epstein” because “he stole people that work for me.

Previous reports suggested that Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago after Epstein made advances towards another member’s teenage daughter and that Epstein and Trump had a falling out when Trump outbid Epstein for a Palm Beach mansion in 2004.

In a strange turn of phrase, Trump described his relationship with Epstein as limited, saying of the sex offender’s private island that “I never had the privilege” of visiting it–leading Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon to ridicule the president, saying “Trump said he was invited to the island but didn’t go. I get it. It’s so annoying when you get invited to a destination crime scene, isn’t it? Trump’s staff was like, ‘a simple no would’ve been fine.’”

Last week, Trump’s deputy attorney general met with the Epstein’s imprisoned accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, leading to speculation a pardon that could shorten her 20-year sentence for sex trafficking could be in the works.“It is a completely abnormal, transparently suspicious meeting,” Hayes said on his MSNBC show All In.

“To be clear, this meeting, the number two at DOJ and a convicted felon in prison is a complete violation of every DOJ protocol or norm,” Hayes said. “This never happens. And it comes as we learn more about Donald Trump’s very well documented friendship with Epstein.”

Last week, before leaving the White House for his trip to Scotland, Trump said a pardon for Maxwell was “not something I’ve thought about,” but noted that “I’m allowed to do it.”