"The two men’s relationship was both far closer and far more complex than the president now admits," the Times reported. "Beginning in the late 1980s, the two men forged a bond intense enough to leave others who knew them with the impression that they were each other’s closest friend."
"They pursued women in a game of ego and dominance," the report added. "Female bodies were currency."
Trump was a constant presence on the party scene in New York and Florida during the 1990s and early 2000s, and associates who knew both men say Epstein was perhaps his most reliable wingman, and the pair frequently visited one another's offices and spoke often on the phone – and usually about sex, according to other former Epstein employees and women who spent time in his homes.
“I just think it was trophy hunting,” said Stacey Williams, a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model who claims Trump groped her in 1993 at Trump Tower while Epstein, whom she was dating at the time, looked on. “I think Jeffrey liked that he had this Sports Illustrated model who had this name, and that Trump was pursuing me."
Epstein or his longtime partner Ghislaine Maxwell introduced at least six women who have accused them of grooming or abuse to the future president, according interviews, court testimony and other records, and one of them was a minor at the time – although none of them have accused Trump himself of inappropriate behavior.
"One of the women, who has never before spoken publicly about the experience, told The Times that Mr. Epstein had coerced her into attending four parties at Mr. Epstein’s home," the newspaper reported. "Mr. Trump attended all four, the woman said. At two of them, she said, Mr. Epstein directed her to have sex with other male guests."
That woman, who was a model and college student in her early 20s at the time, said she was recruited by Maxwell and abused by Epstein, but she said Trump – already a universally known celebrity – stood out at the party, and Epstein often bragged about their friendship to the women around him.
"It was like a pissing contest — who had the most women,” said that woman, who requested anonymity out of fear for her family's safety after Trump suggested his critics could be executed for sedition.
She told the newspaper the women at those parties didn't seem to know one another and the men arrived individually, and she showed the Times a handwritten entry in an address book she kept in those years showing Trump's name and two of his phone numbers, but she said he never acted inappropriately with her.
"Tina Davis, who modeled for Ford in the mid-1990s, said in an interview that her Ford booker instructed her to get dressed up and attend a Mar-a-Lago party in late 1994," the Times reported. "Just 14 [years old] and new to Miami, she was told to 'dress sexy,' according to her mother, Sandra Coleman, who had accompanied her to Florida. Eight or nine other models came along on the bus. 'All the girls were really young,' Ms. Coleman recalled in an interview. 'Some of them could have been in training bras.'"
The teenage girl was immediately handed a glass of champagne after arriving at Mar-a-Lago, which her mother took away, but waiters kept offering more and middle-aged men constantly approached the girl, she said.
"During a trip to the bathroom, they ran into Mr. Trump’s new wife [Marla Maples], whom they had met earlier," the Times reported. "Ms. Maples clasped her hands, Ms. Coleman recalled, and looked her in the eye. 'Whatever you do, do not let her around any of these men, and especially my husband,' she told Ms. Coleman. 'Protect her.'"
"Ms. Maples denied making the comment," the report added. “'I would always protect young women in any way I could,' she said, 'but I am sure I didn’t specifically say that about my daughter’s father.'"
Epstein frequently was a guest at Mar-a-Lago parties, according to women who were present.
"A woman who said Mr. Epstein trafficked her in the late 1990s and early 2000s recalled attending at least a half-dozen of the parties, beginning when she was 17 and modeling during the winter fashion season in Florida," the Times reported. "Mr. Epstein showed up at several of them, too. He always seemed to know about events happening at Mar-a-Lago, she said, even when he did not attend, and was always curious about her experiences."
