Pulled from a post on reddit:
The Complete Trump-Epstein Timeline: Decades of Connections, Cover-ups, and Contradictions
TL;DR: Trump had a 15+ year friendship with Epstein, his DOJ was riddled with conflicts of interest, and when Epstein died in Trump's custody, he immediately blamed the Clintons while covering up his own deeper connections. For the record if anyone regardless of party shows up in these files they should be prosecuted. This post is to set the record straight.
Part 1: The 15-Year Friendship (1987-2002)
1987: Trump and Epstein first meet. Became "nightlife musketeers" with Tom Barrack
https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/07/10/jeffrey-epstein-boasted-that-he-played-matchmaker-for-donald-and-melania-trump-report-says/
1992: NBC footage captures them partying at Mar-a-Lago with 28 cheerleaders. Trump whispers in Epstein's ear, points at women saying "She's hot"
https://apnews.com/article/156bf74aa00640969bbf57011b8395f1
1993-1997: Flight logs show Trump flew on Epstein's plane at least 7 times, including with Tiffany and Marla Maples
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/nov/08/instagram-posts/no-evidence-president-elect-donald-trump-visited-j/
2002: Trump's infamous quote to New York Magazine (Washington Post):
"I've known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-called-epstein-a-terrific-guy-before-denying-relationship-with-him/2019/07/08/a01e0f00-a1be-11e9-bd56-eac6bb02d01d_story.html
Part 2: The Falling Out (2004-2008)
2004: Trump outbids Epstein for Palm Beach mansion. Two weeks later, police get first tip about Epstein (Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/donald-trump-and-jeffrey-epstein-partied-together-then-an-oceanfront-palm-beach-mansion-came-between-them/2019/07/31/79f1d98c-aca0-11e9-a0c9-6d2d7818f3da_story.html
Key fact: 16-year-old Virginia Giuffre was recruited at Mar-a-Lago while working as spa attendant. Her father was maintenance manager at Trump's club.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Giuffre
Part 3: Trump Administration Conflicts of Interest (2017-2021)
2017: Trump appoints Alexander Acosta as Labor Secretary - the same prosecutor who gave Epstein the sweetheart 2008 plea deal
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/12/labor-secretary-alex-acosta-is-resigning-as-pressure-mounts-from-jeffrey-epstein-case.html
2017: Auther Micheal Wolff interviews Epstein on multiple occasions for his book Fire and Fury (released in 2020). Durring these sessio. Epstein referred on tape to himself as "being Dolands closest friend for 15 years" and "Have access to the whitehouse".
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/01/trump-jeffrey-epstein-tapes
2019: William Barr becomes AG despite massive conflicts:
Barr's father hired Epstein to teach at elite school despite zero credentials
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jeffrey-epstein-dalton-school-math-teacher-yearbook-photos-125122535.html
Barr worked at Kirkland & Ellis, the firm that represented Epstein
The Recusal Flip-Flop:
July 8: Barr recuses himself
https://www.newsweek.com/william-barr-says-hes-recused-epstein-case-over-legal-conflict-1448165
July 9: Reverses recusal after "consulting ethics officials"
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/09/bill-barr-will-not-recuse-himself-in-jeffrey-epstein-prosecution.html
Part 4: Epstein's Death & Trump's Hypocrisy (August 10, 2019)
6:30 AM: Epstein found dead in Trump's DOJ custody That evening: Trump promotes Clinton conspiracy theories
Official tweet timestamps from American Presidency Project:
22:01:25: Retweets about Clinton's flights
22:01:56: Just 31 seconds later, retweets: "Died of SUICIDE on 24/7 SUICIDE WATCH? Yeah right! #JefferyEpstein had information on Bill Clinton"
The conspiracy retweet got 70,642 retweets - massive amplification.
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/tweets-august-10-2019
The Hypocrisy: While blaming Clinton, Trump ignored his own:
15-year friendship with Epstein
7 documented flights on Epstein's plane
14 phone numbers in Epstein's book
https://www.factcheck.org/2019/08/the-epstein-connections-fueling-conspiracy-theories/
The 2002 "younger women" quote
Part 5: The 2025 Cover-up
June 2024: Trump tells Fox News he'd declassify Epstein files, but Fox edited out his backtrack: "I guess I would... you don't want to affect people's lives if it's phony stuff in there"
https://www.yahoo.com/news/fox-news-edited-trump-saying-175738014.html
February 2025: AG Pam Bondi claims Epstein "client list" is "sitting on my desk"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/07/08/jeffrey-epstein-bondi-patel-trump/
July 7, 2025: DOJ releases memo declaring:
Epstein died by suicide (case closed)
No "client list" exists
No further prosecutions
https://abcnews.go.com/US/doj-fbi-review-finds-jeffrey-epstein-client-list/story?id=123526125
July 8, 2025: When asked about Epstein, Trump snaps: "Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy's been talked about for years... This creep"
https://www.axios.com/2025/07/08/jeffrey-epstein-files-trump-list-pam-bondi
The Evolution of Trump's Denials:
2002: "Terrific guy... likes beautiful women... on the younger side"
2019: "I was not a fan... haven't spoken in 15 years"
2025: "This creep... waste of time to discuss"
The MAGA Rebellion
Trump's own supporters are furious about the cover-up. Alex Jones, Laura Loomer, and Tucker Carlson are turning on the administration for burying the case.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-supporters-angry-justice-departments-epstein-memo/story?id=123567461
The Bottom Line
Trump had deeper documented connections to Epstein than Clinton ever did, yet spent years promoting conspiracy theories while his own administration covered up the case. The same DOJ that was supposed to investigate Epstein's death was run by people with direct conflicts of interest.
This represents one of the most hypocritical and suspicious handling of a major criminal case in presidential history.