Donald Trump visited Jeffrey Epstein regularly at his Palm Beach mansion, Epstein’s housekeeper testified – but never had massages or stayed the night, and always ate his meals with the staff in the kitchen.
Juan Alessi’s 2009 deposition was made public on Friday as part of the third tranche of documents released by a Manhattan judge. The documents formed part of a 2015 defamation case filed by one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Roberts-Giuffre, against Epstein’s right-hand woman, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Alessi, who worked for Epstein from around 1990 until 2002, was asked whether Trump – whose Mar-a-Lago home is less than two miles from Epstein’s waterfront compound – ever stayed the night.
‘No, never,’ replied Alessi.
Alessi continued: ‘He would come, have dinner. He never sat at the table. He eat with me in the kitchen.’
Donald Trump and Epstein are pictured together at Mar-a-Lago in 1997
Juan Alessi is pictured near his Florida home in May 2020. He worked as Epstein’s housekeeper from around 1990 to 2002
Epstein’s waterfront Palm Beach mansion is less than two miles from Mar-a-Lago
The lawyer asked Alessi whether Trump ever had massages at Epstein’s house.
‘No. Because he’s got his own spa,’ Alessi replied.
Trump has never been accused of any wrongdoing, and he and Epstein fell out in 2004 over a Palm Beach real estate deal.
But the two men were close for well over a decade, with Epstein’s infamous ‘black book’ containing 16 phone numbers for Trump.
Trump, who had divorced his first wife Ivana in 1990, organized in 1992 a “calendar girl” competition at Mar-a-Lago, with 28 female contestants.
The organizer, George Houraney, who ran American Dream Enterprise, a small Florida company that staged a calendar-girl contest and other events, was according to Vanity Fair shocked to learn there were only two male guests – Trump and Epstein.
In November 1992, Trump threw a raucous party with NFL cheerleaders at his Mar-a-Lago estate, and invited Epstein.
And in 1997, the pair were photographed at a Victoria’s Secret party in New York City.
By February 2000, Trump had met Melania Knauss, and when he staged a pro-am tennis tournament at Mar-a-Lago he was photographed with Epstein, Maxwell, and Knauss.
Epstein, according to Vanity Fair, claimed to have introduced the Slovenian-born model to Trump.
Donald and Melania Trump are seen with Epstein and Maxwell at Mar-a-Lago in February 2000
Epstein is pictured in 2004 in Cambridge, Massachusetts
‘I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,’ Trump told New York magazine in 2002.
‘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. No doubt about it – Jeffrey enjoys his social life.’
After Epstein was arrested in July 2019, Trump said he only knew Epstein because ‘everybody in Palm Beach’ did.
Trump said that he had not spoken to Epstein ‘in 15 years’ due to ‘a falling out.’
‘I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you,’ Trump said, while also pointing out that Epstein was never a member of his Mar-a-Lago club.
Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion was one of several sites where he sexually abused young girls.
The waterfront estate, just over a mile from Donald Trump ‘s Mar-a-Lago, went on the market in 2020 for $21.9 million but is believed to have been sold for $18 million.
Todd Michael Glaser, a Florida-based developer, now intends to demolish the existing house and build a new one in its place.