Trump Claims Epstein “Stole” Spa Workers from Mar-a-Lago — Family of Virginia Giuffre Demands Clarity
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a statement aboard Air Force One on July 29, 2025, President Donald Trump revived controversy surrounding his former relationship with convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein by accusing Epstein of “stealing” young women from his staff at Mar‑a‑Lago, including Virginia Giuffre, who later became a high-profile accuser in Epstein’s trafficking ring.
“I think she worked at the spa … one of the people, yep. He stole her,” Trump said of Giuffre. “By the way, she had no complaints about us whatsoever” (Newsweek, Politico). Trump added he banned Epstein from the club after the alleged poaching began, stating he “didn’t like it” and “he stole our people.”
🧷 The Record: What Is Verifiable and What Isn’t
Court documents and Giuffre’s own testimony confirm she was working at Mar‑a‑Lago spa in 2000 at around age 16, when Ghislaine Maxwell recruited her under the guise of massage work, later introducing her to Epstein’s trafficking network (Newsweek). However, Trump has never admitted direct knowledge of the recruitment process or Maxwell’s role. While Trump distanced himself from Epstein in the years before Epstein’s 2019 arrest, records show he once described Epstein as a “terrific guy” and flew on Epstein’s private jet multiple times in the 1990s (Newsweek, Newsweek).
📣 Giuffre’s Family: “Shocking and Dehumanizing Comments”
Virginia Giuffre’s family swiftly expressed anger and heartbreak at Trump’s comments. They noted that Epstein and Maxwell, not Trump, were responsible for preying on their sister:
“It was shocking to hear President Trump invoke our sister and say he was aware that Virginia had been ‘stolen’ from Mar‑a‑Lago… We would like to clarify that it was convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell who targeted and preyed upon our then 16-year-old sister.” — Statement from Virginia Giuffre’s family (Newsweek, Al Jazeera)
Family members emphasized that Maxwell recruited Virginia while she was working as spa staff, a fact widely verified in court filings and media investigations. Critics say the framing of Giuffre as property “stolen” by Epstein dehumanizes victims of trafficking and distorts justice.
🧭 Why These Remarks Matter: Accountability and Survivor Rights
Trump’s admission, though limited reignites questions about accountability across elite social circles entangled with Epstein. Civil rights advocates caution that statements like these simplify a deep systemic crime into a personal vendetta narrative, erasing the systemic process of grooming and trafficking in favor of a sanitized PR story. Several experts have decried the narrative shift as minimizing Giuffre’s memoir and testimony of manipulation, coercion, and physical abuse. The implication that she was simply “stolen” reduces her agency and reduces the gravity of trafficking.
Additionally, Trump’s remarks come amid increasing public pressure to release unreleased Epstein-related DOJ and FBI files. Polling from Quinnipiac University and YouGov shows strong majorities want full document transparency, with 79% of Americans believing the government is covering up critical evidence including 59% of Trump voters (Newsweek).
🧨 Final Word: Distortion or Disclosure?
Trump’s comments contain a kernel of truth Giuffre was trafficked from Mar‑a‑Lago spa. But whether that makes Trump a victim or a witness is left unclear. His framing hides the criminal agency of Maxwell and Epstein, while sidestepping complex questions around grooming, institutional complicity, and survivor autonomy.
In the end, survivors like Virginia Giuffre demanded more than symbolic empathy. They demanded accountability. And as this story evolves, the public deserves more than deflection or denial it deserves full disclosure, unwavering attention to survivor voices, and laws that protect, not silence, trafficking victims.
