It may be that Donald Trump let his guard down because he felt relaxed after a weekend in Scotland at a favorite golf course.
One of his own, naturally.
The president discussed the real reason he didn’t like that nasty Jeffrey Epstein.
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Strangely enough, it wasn’t because the monstrous financier pimped out vulnerable, underage girls to curry favor with his rich and famous friends.
It was because Epstein stole his staff from Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach resort. Not once, but twice. Even after Trump warned him off. He decided Epstein wasn’t such a good friend, after all.
On Air Force One, as Trump returned to the White House on Tuesday after what was, for him, a highly successful trip (plenty of golf, plenty of sucking up, plenty of brand promotion), he returned to the topic. “The concept of taking people that work for me is bad,” he told reporters.
After all, he continued, they were working at “one of the best spas in the world” at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump was asked if one of these workers was Virginia Giuffre. “I think she worked at the spa,” he answered. “I think that was one of the people. He stole her.”
“And by the way,” he added quickly. “She had no complaints about us, as you know, none whatsoever.”
All these years later, it is Epstein poaching his staff that sticks in Trump’s craw. One billionaire scoring points over another.
But Giuffre should not be remembered for a snap decision to switch from working for one wealthy man to another. She should be remembered for the terrible cost of that choice.
Countless young women’s lives were destroyed by Epstein and his ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. They were selected because of their youth and their naivety. And discarded when both were stolen from them by men who should have known better.
Epstein may have stolen Trump’s staff. But he stole his victims’ happiness.
Giuffre was just 17 in 2000 when she was working as a spa assistant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club. She was lucky to get a cushy job. But she was unlucky enough to meet Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime friend and procurer-in-chief of young girls.
Maxwell wondered if the teenager was interested in working as a masseuse for Epstein, who owned a mansion just down the street in Palm Beach. No experience required.
In a May 2016 deposition, Giuffre said she was sitting outside the women’s locker room at the time. “I was reading a book on massage therapy,” she explained. “She noticed I was reading the massage book. And I started to have chitchat with her just about, you know, the body and the anatomy and how I was interested in it. And she told me that she knew somebody that was looking for a traveling masseuse. If the guy likes you then, you know, it will work out for you. You’ll travel. You’ll make good money.”
So, she took the job and she did, indeed, travel, and meet Epstein’s wealthy, exotic friends. But only to have sex with them. She claimed that Britain’s Prince Andrew was one such person. She also named a former governor, a former senator, a Harvard law professor, and a model company boss, among others.
Epstein hid behind the 5th Amendment when he was asked about Maxwell’s recruitment of Giuffre at Mar-a-Lago, meaning he wouldn’t talk about it.
But now, it appears that Trump has decided to explain the Giuffre connection. Court filings show the teenager was paid $1866.50 by Mar-a-Lago in 2000 and that Trump wrote a recommendation for Giuffre’s father, who worked in maintenance at the resort.
Her story is more important than ever as the president of the United States ties himself in knots to escape media scrutiny over his friendship with Epstein.
Before she was out of her teens, she was deemed superfluous to Maxwell and Epstein and their evil machinations.
She was no longer lusted after by their sick, rich friends. She was too old at 19.
There is, of course, no suggestion that Trump had anything to do with Giuffre after she went to work for Epstein at an age most kids are studying for their SATs.
But her plight should not be forgotten as attorneys and politicians fight to save the skins of their powerful friends and employers.
Her early life wasn’t easy. She claimed she was sexually abused by a family friend, and she spent part of her childhood in and out of foster homes.
After being plucked from Mar-a-Lago by Maxwell, she was “passed around like a platter of fruit” to Epstein’s perverted associates, she later told the BBC. She was still just 17 when she claimed she was sexually abused three times by Prince Andrew after being flown to meet him in London. The British royal denied all the allegations and reached an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre in 20223. It contained no admission of guilt. No apology.
Discarded by Epstein in 2003, less than three years after meeting him, she found a measure of happiness for a while, falling in love and moving to Australia. She had three children, but the marriage didn’t last.
Her family life fell apart, prompting her to write a despairing note on Instagram on March 22 this year. “My beautiful babies have no clue how much I love them, and they’re being poisoned with lies. I miss them so very much. I have been through hell & back in my 41 years but this is incredibly hurting me worse than anything else.”
A week later, she was back on social media to report she was dying after a serious road accident in Western Australia. The post was disputed by police.
In April, Giuffre died via suicide at her home.
“It is with utterly broken hearts that we announce that Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia,” her family said in a statement. “Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors. Despite all the adversity she faced in her life, she shone so bright. She will be missed beyond measure.”
She was 41 when she died. Too young.
Much too young.
