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A new Facebook claim about Epstein has been making the rounds - this one talking about Trump's past relationship with Epstein.

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There are a number of claims about the relationship between Trump and Epstein here, but I want to focus on this one in particular.

"Trump later banned Epstein from the club because he found out Epstein made passes at the 14 yr old daughter of another member, and in 2002 he publicly outed Epstein as a pedophile."

I've been searching for news articles regarding this, but the only thing that seems to come close is a Washington Post article about Epstein and Trump having a row over Palm Beach property in 2004.

Did Trump come forward in 2002 to oust Epstein, before his official indictment began in 2005, as this image macro claims?

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    What's this talk about an ordinance? Allowing blacks and Jews into a club was illegal?
    – Acccumulation
    Commented Aug 23, 2020 at 1:02
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    @Acccumulation Could make for a good follow-up question, if you're interested in asking it.
    – Zibbobz
    Commented Aug 23, 2020 at 1:31
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    @Acccumulation The wikipedia page on Mar a Lago has more info. Seems to be broadly true. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar-a-Lago#Claim_of_discrimination However the source is a 2017 article in Vanity Fair, so not very authoritative. vanityfair.com/style/2016/12/… Definitely worth a Question, either here or on Skeptics.SE.
    – Paul Johnson
    Commented Aug 23, 2020 at 13:22
  • @Acccumulation Correction: definitely worth a question, either here or on Politics.SE".
    – Paul Johnson
    Commented Aug 23, 2020 at 14:18
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    @Acccumulation Turns out it's already been asked. skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/34739/… In brief, its a heavy slant; Palm Beach did everything it could to obstruct Trump, leading to a legal case and Trump arguing that Palm Beach was hypocritical in imposing heavy restrictions on Mar a Largo which were not imposed on nearby segregated clubs. Not quite what is claimed in the OP.
    – Paul Johnson
    Commented Aug 23, 2020 at 14:26

2 Answers 2

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Trump probably did not "come forward in 2002 to oust [sic; or out?] Epstein". But the statement in the image is vague enough that it's not clear what it even means.

It seems possible that it is referring to the following quote, mentioned in your linked article, which has become pretty infamous:

In a 2002 interview, he gave no indication of concern, telling New York magazine that Epstein “enjoys his social life.”

“It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side,” Trump said.

Given what we now know, I can see someone describing this as "publicly out[ing] Epstein as a pedophile". But that seems like a stretch when the quotation is considered in the context of Trump's apparently positive attitude towards Epstein in this interview.

Here is the context as given in Jeffrey Epstein: International Moneyman of Mystery, by Landon Thomas Jr., October 28, 2002:

“I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy,” Trump booms from a speakerphone. “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.”

Who knows what Trump was thinking here, but it doesn't seem very plausible to interpret this as an attempt by Trump to make Epstein publicly known as a pedophile, considering that he calls Epstein a "terrific guy" and compares his taste in women to Trump's own.

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    Nice job on connecting the 2002 quote with the idea that "Trump publicly ousted Jefferey Epstein as a pedophile" idea - I never would've thought of it like that, but it is just vague enough to interpret it like that if you try.
    – Zibbobz
    Commented Aug 23, 2020 at 13:08
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    Snopes article here: snopes.com/fact-check/trump-epstein-maralago-meme
    – Paul Johnson
    Commented Aug 23, 2020 at 15:46
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This does not appear to be true as there is indication that Epstein was a member at Mar-A-Lago well after 2002 and had a membership up until 2007 when his membership appears to have been shut down. While it is true that he was banned for hitting on another members daughter that happened 5 years after the claim and 2 years after the charges.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/510604-book-claims-trump-barred-epstein-from-mar-a-lago-after-financier-hit

"The Grifter’s Club," released Tuesday, asserts that Epstein was a member of Trump's club until 2007, when he was banned for hitting on another member's daughter. Co-author Nicholas Nehamas told the paper that records show Epstein's account at the club was closed in October 2007.

There is a Snopes article that also calls out that Trump suing Pal Beach for being racist and calling out Epstein as a pedophile is false.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-epstein-maralago-meme/

What's True Trump raised an issue with the Palm Beach City Council about segregated private clubs, eventually barred Epstein from Mar-a-Lago, and voluntarily provided information to assist some of Epstein's victims build a case against him.

What's False Trump did not "sue Palm Beach for being racist," nor did he "out Epstein as a pedophile" in 2002.

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