IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Jeffrey Epstein introduced me to Trump at 14, Ghislaine Maxwell accuser says

Testifying at Maxwell’s trial in New York City, the woman, identified by the pseudonym Jane, said she met the former president in the 1990s at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Get more newsLiveon

One of the four women who say they were “groomed” for sex by Ghislaine Maxwell testified Wednesday that the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein took her to meet Donald Trump when she was just 14.

Testifying at Maxwell’s trial in New York City, the woman, who is being identified by the pseudonym Jane, said on cross-examination that she met the future president in the 1990s at Mar-a-Lago, his resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

Jane didn’t allege any improper behavior by Trump and didn’t go into further detail about why she was at the resort.

“Mr. Epstein introduced you to Donald Trump, correct?” Laura Menninger, Maxwell's defense attorney, asked.

“Yes,” Jane replied.

Image: Ghislaine Maxwell trial in New York
A courtroom sketch depicts defense lawyer Laura Menninger questioning witness "Jane" about previous inconsistencies in documents during the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell in New York City on Wednesday.Jane Rosenberg / Reuters

Jane also acknowledged that in 1998, she took part in a Miss Teen USA beauty pageant that was associated with Trump. It wasn’t immediately clear whether that was before or after the meeting at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump’s spokesman didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment about whether Trump, who once called Epstein a “terrific guy,” has any recollection of meeting Jane.

Following Epstein’s 2019 arrest, Trump told reporters that he was “not a fan” of him.

Another woman, Virginia Giuffre, who isn’t part of the case, said in a civil lawsuit that Maxwell trafficked her to Prince Andrew when she was 17. He has denied the allegations. 

Under questioning by Menninger, Jane recalled being on one of Epstein’s private plane flights with Prince Andrew.

Epstein’s longtime pilot, Larry Visoski, testified Tuesday that he remembers meeting Jane on one of his flights but that he didn’t know she was a minor.

The flights became the focus of intense media scrutiny after it was discovered that Andrew and other boldface names, like former President Bill Clinton and Trump lawyer Alan Dershowitz, took trips on his planes. There are no allegations of trafficking against Clinton and Dershowitz.

Maxwell, 59, a British socialite, has been accused of identifying and targeting vulnerable girls and young women and “grooming” them for sex with Epstein and other powerful men.

Maxwell, who is on trial accused of helping Epstein recruit and abuse Jane and three other underage girls, mostly in the 1990s, has denied all of the accusations. She pleaded not guilty to the six charges against her.

Maxwell’s lawyers contend that she is being “scapegoated” by federal prosecutors because they can’t try Epstein, a convicted sex offender who hanged himself in a Manhattan lockup two years ago while he awaited trial on charges of sex trafficking.

Maxwell’s siblings echoed the claim that Maxwell has been unfairly targeted for prosecution. On Wednesday, her sister Isabel and brother Kevin were in the courtroom.

Jane revealed that she crossed paths with Trump a day after she testified in graphic detail that Maxwell trained her how to “massage” and sexually satisfy Epstein.

Jane also testified that she was regularly abused by Epstein and took part in orgies that included both Maxwell and Epstein at Epstein’s palatial homes in Palm Beach, Florida, and New York City and on his New Mexico ranch.

When asked, Jane described the sex as “kissing, oral sex on each other, oral sex on Jeffrey, full-on intercourse.”

Jane found her credibility questioned repeatedly by Menninger.

“Did you rehearse your testimony for direct questioning?” Menninger asked.

“No,” Jane replied.

Menninger then produced a thank-you note to Epstein that included the line “You rock my world” and asked Jane whether she wrote it.

“Yes, embarrassingly,” she answered.

Jane, under questioning by prosecutor Alison Moe, said that her family was strapped for cash and that Epstein paid some of their bills. She said she regrets taking the money.

Burying her face in her hands and bursting into tears, Jane said that she was seeking closure and that she had no financial stake in the outcome of the trial.

"Hopefully, this just puts it all to an end and I can move on with my life," she said.

Jane was followed on the stand by an ex-boyfriend, an actor who was identified by the pseudonym Matt. He said Jane told him what she said Maxwell and Epstein did to her. He said Jane also confessed to her mother why Epstein had given her money.

“She told the mother the money was not free," Matt testified.

Jane testified Tuesday that she was still mourning the death of her father when Maxwell and Epstein befriended her at age 14 at the Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan.

Epstein, who was a big donor to the prestigious program, also had a cabin near the camp.

Jane said Maxwell acted like a big sister while, at the same time, luring her into sex trafficking. She admitted that she didn’t tell investigators about Maxwell’s alleged involvement until after Epstein died by suicide in 2019.

“They did despicable things to me, and I didn’t want to talk about them,” she said Tuesday on cross-examination.

Maxwell’s trial in the Southern District of New York started Monday and is expected to last six weeks.