A newly released FBI record details claims that Donald Trump expressed approval of law enforcement action against Jeffrey Epstein during the early stages of the investigation into Epstein’s conduct in 2006.
The account appears in a written summary of a 2019 FBI interview with the former Palm Beach police chief and is part of a recent release of Epstein-related documents.
According to the FBI interview summary, the former police chief said Trump called him shortly after Palm Beach police began investigating Epstein over allegations involving underage girls. The officer recalled Trump thanking police for taking action and saying authorities were right to stop Epstein, adding that Epstein’s behavior was already known. The document records this as the officer’s recollection of the call.
The interview subject was identified as Michael Reiter, who was Palm Beach police chief at the time of the investigation. In the FBI summary, Reiter said Trump told him he had already removed Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago club and described Epstein in negative terms. The account further states that Trump urged investigators to focus on Ghislaine Maxwell, whom he identified as central to Epstein’s activities and described as “evil.”
The FBI record also recounts Reiter’s claim that Trump said he immediately distanced himself after encountering Epstein in the presence of teenagers and left the situation without delay. Reiter told investigators that Trump contacted law enforcement soon after learning that an investigation was underway. The document presents these statements as part of the former police chief’s account and does not describe them as independently verified findings.
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 for her role in recruiting underage girls for Epstein and is serving a 20-year prison sentence. Epstein died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and has said he cut off contact with him years before Epstein’s first arrest. The FBI record documents what the former police chief said Trump conveyed during the alleged 2006 phone call, without making conclusions beyond that account or confirming the call through independent evidence.
