Marla Maples warned President Donald Trump that there was something “off” with Jeffrey Epstein years before the convicted sex offender was first arrested, according to a new report.
Maples, who married Trump in 1993 following his divorce from his first wife, shared her concerns with Mar-a-Lago employees after the Florida club opened in 1995, The Wall Street Journal reported.
She told staff that there was something “wrong” with Epstein, who was a frequent visitor to the Palm Beach mansion, and said she was worried about the influence he had on her husband.
Staff said that Maples did not want Epstein to spend time with her or Trump and that she telegraphed her reservations to Timothy McDaniel, who ran security at Trump’s properties in Florida. The comments struck former employees as “out of character for Maples.” Neither Maples or McDaniel responded when asked for comment by the Journal.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Journal that the paper was “writing up fallacies and innuendo,” adding, “No matter how many times this story is told and retold, the truth remains: President Trump did nothing wrong and he kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of Mar a Lago for being a creep.”
The latest Journal report also revealed a number of other previously unknown details about Trump and Epstein’s relationship, citing former Mar-a-Lago employees and former employees of Epstein.
• Mar-a-Lago regularly sent employees — “usually young women” — to Epstein’s home in Palm Beach for massages and other services. The practice reportedly went on for years. While Epstein was not a paying member of the club, Trump ordered his staff to treat him like one.
• The Journal also reported that the deceased financier gained a reputation among Mar-a-Lago staffers for inappropriate behaviour. “Epstein was known among staff for being sexually suggestive and exposing himself during the appointments, according to the former Mar-a-Lago employees,” the paper stated.
• Former employees said that Ghislaine Maxwell — Epstein’s longtime associate who is currently in prison following her conviction on sex trafficking charges — approached young spa employees about unauthorised “side jobs,” informing them they could make “extra cash” by providing massages to her friend.
• An 18-year-old beautician at Mar-a-Lago told managers that Epstein had pressured her for sex during a house call in 2003. A staffer then informed Trump of the allegation via fax and requested that Epstein be banned from the property. Trump reportedly responded that it was a “good letter” and said to kick Epstein out.
The newly revealed details come as the controversy surrounding Epstein — who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges — has drawn intense public scrutiny. In recent weeks, the Department of Justice has released thousands of heavily redacted files on the deceased financier, including some that reference Trump as well as other public figures, in accordance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law in November. The president, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, has maintained that he did nothing wrong and that he cut ties with Epstein years ago.
Epstein and Trump’s relationship dates back to the 1980s and they were photographed together multiple times, including at Mar-a-Lago, in the 1990s and 2000s. In 2017, the disgraced financier told author Michael Wolff that he was Trump’s “closest friend.”
Epstein attended Trump and Maples’ wedding at New York City’s Plaza Hotel in 1993, archival video footage published by CNN in July revealed.
Epstein also claimed to have made a $10,000 bet with Trump over whether or not Maples would become pregnant, The Independent previously reported. After Maples gave birth to Tiffany Trump in October 1993, Epstein said he delivered “a truck of baby food” in payment.
Maples and Trump divorced in 1999.
Tina Davis, a former model, told The New York Times in December that she attended a party at Mar-a-Lago in 1994, when she was 14 years old along with her mother, Sandra Coleman.
Coleman, who recalled that her daughter was told to “dress sexy,” said they met Maples in the bathroom at one point. Maples reportedly took Coleman’s hands and told her, “Whatever you do, do not let her around any of these men, and especially my husband…Protect her.”
Maples denied having said this, telling the Times, “I would always protect young women in any way I could, but I am sure I didn’t specifically say that about my daughter’s father.”
Epstein was arrested in 2006 in Florida on state felony charges of procuring a minor for prostitution. He was granted a controversial plea deal which allowed him to spend most of his 18-month sentence on a work release program.
He was arrested again in 2019 and charged by New York prosecutors with sex trafficking of minors. He was found dead in his prison cell on August 10. His death was ruled a suicide by a medical examiner.
