Exhaustive CNN timeline details Trump’s long relationship with Epstein

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press about deploying federal law enforcement agents in Washington to bolster the local police presence, in the Press Briefing Room at the White House, in Washington D.C., U.S., August 11, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

During a press conference on his recent visit to Scotland, U.S. President Donald Trump made a point of distancing himself from the late Jeffrey Epstein — who, he told reporters, was banned from Mar-a-Lago for trying to "steal" his employees.

In an article published on August 12, CNN offers a timeline of Trump's relationship with Epstein, starting in 1985.

The timeline shows Trump purchasing Mar-a-Lago in 1985, noting that in 1987, "Trump and Jeffrey Epstein's relationship begins, according to Trump in a 2002 profile on Epstein in New York Magazine."

In 1989, according to CNN, "Trump attends a party on a yacht called the 'Lady Ghislaine,' owned by billionaire Robert Maxwell. His daughter Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite, is among the guests at the party, according to newspaper reports."

An NBC News video from 1992, according to CNN's timeline, "shows Trump and Epstein partying at Mar-a-Lago with Buffalo Bills cheerleaders and other guests. The two men talk while watching women on the dance floor. Trump appears to say to Epstein, 'Look at her, back there.... she’s hot,' while Epstein smiles and nods."

The timeline goes on to show Epstein visiting Trump at Trump Tower in 1993 and Trump flying with Epstein and Maxwell on Epstein's private jet four times that same year.

CNN's timeline also shows Trump continuing to associate with Maxwell during the rest of the 1990s, and a photo taken at Mar-a-Lago in 2000 shows Trump along Epstein, Maxwell and now-First Lady Melania Trump (who was going by Melania Knauss at the time).

Read the full CNN timeline at this link (subscription required).