It has long been known that President Donald Trump and the late, notorious convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein were once friends. However, whether that is affecting the president’s motivations, as he continues to push his supporters to move past the Justice Department’s conclusions in the Epstein case, remains to be seen.
But now, there’s a new story about Trump and Epstein’s past relationship.
Jack O’Donnell, who was president of the Atlantic City Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in the late 1980s and early 1990s, appeared on CNN this week to share stories about Trump’s friendship with Epstein from that time.
‘Trump and Epstein brought teen to casino floor,’ says ex-resort boss https://t.co/CxVVYUbwNF pic.twitter.com/j8xDfa0RH4
— The Independent (@Independent) July 17, 2025
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“In my mind, it [Epstein] was his best friend, you know, from really the time I was there for four years,” O’Donnell said, according to The Independent.
In addition, per the news story, “O’Donnell claimed inspectors of the state casino commission, which regulates gambling and ensures casinos comply with the law, were waiting for him in his office, after the president and disgraced financier had turned up at the venue with a group of three women.”
“Donald and Jeffrey had come into the casino in the wee hours of Sunday morning, 1:00, 1:30 in the morning,” O’Donnell told CNN’s Erin Burnett in the Wednesday interview. “You know, two buddies, they had three women with them, and the commission was waiting for me because they had determined that the women that they brought down were underage to be in the casino.”
“Either we’re going to confirm everything that Donald Trump and his team have been saying all along… or it will explode the whole thing as a conspiracy theory and mere propaganda.”
Democrat Rep. Jamie #Raskin talks to @ErinBurnett about why he sides with #MAGA‘s call for… pic.twitter.com/tDjOjuLyEk
— Erin Burnett OutFront (@OutFrontCNN) July 15, 2025
“To get on a helicopter with a friend and three other people and fly down to Atlantic City, I mean, you can connect those dots. They were pretty good buddies.”
Trump has not denied that he and Epstein were friends in the late ’80s and early ’90s, which was before Epstein’s first prosecution for sex crimes in 2008. What relationship the two men had after that, however, is a matter of some dispute. Now, however, Trump is calling Epstein a “hoax” put out by Democrats.
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
