Trump's views on women have never been unclear. As a publicity-minded businessman, he was always eager to describe his conquests, real and imagined, to gossip columnists and talk show hosts. Since he became a politician, the picture has only worsened. About twenty women have publicly accused the president of various forms of sexual harassment. (He has always denied the charges.) In 2023, a New York jury awarded writer E. Jean Carroll a five million dollar civil verdict against him for libel and sexual assault. She accused Trump of attacking her in the dressing room of the Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York in the mid-1990s. (Trump has denied Carroll's account and called on the Supreme Court to overturn the decision.)
On Tuesday, as the Justice Department continued to release an avalanche of documents and photographs collectively known as the “Epstein files,” some, but hardly all, major news outlets reported letter allegedly written by Jeffrey Epstein for Larry Nassarformer USA Gymnastics team doctor who abused hundreds of female athletes and pleaded guilty in 2018 to seven counts of first-degree sexual assault. The letter was postmarked August 13, 2019, three days. after Epstein committed suicide in his Manhattan prison cell. The handwritten text reflects contempt for Trump and darkly hints at his past. While all three men shared a “love for young, mature girls,” Epstein allegedly wrote, and the president “loved to 'grab a steal,'” only Epstein and Nassar “ended up stealing grub from the system's cafeterias. Life isn't fair.”
The existence of the letter was mentioned in a message from 2023. Associated Press. But is this real? There is no reason to believe that this is the case. Julie K. Brown, Miami Herald Investigative reporter who worked on the Epstein case for years wrote on X“It's suspicious to me, largely because Jeffrey Epstein didn't know how to spell. It doesn't seem to match the way he wrote either. Plus, it does look like a woman's handwriting.” Ministry of Justice later announced X that “The FBI has confirmed that this alleged letter from Jeffrey Epstein to Larry Nassar is FAKE.”
Proving this president's obscenity hardly requires a dubious letter as evidence. As we continue to sift through the daily debris of Trump's accumulating record and biography, we continue to live with the idea that somehow, somewhere, a document or detail will emerge so grotesque, so damning, that the country will finally rise as one and declare the end of the presidency. Just another case of sexual assault; cruel and illegal deportations; from financial discretion. Another pandering to racism and anti-Semitism in MAGA camp; another outrageous insult to a foreign leader or reporter; another violation of constitutional and institutional norms.
There have already been numerous accurate reports about Trump's treatment of women and the close relationship between the president and Epstein. Among the best and most comprehensive reports was published last week in the journal Time. Nicholas Confessor and Julie Tate reviewed countless documents and interviewed more than thirty former Epstein employees as well as victims. They described this relationship as one of shared carnal interest.
“No men drank or did drugs. They pursued women in a game of ego and dominance. Women's bodies were currency,” Confessor and Tate wrote. “For nearly two decades, as Mr. Trump worked his way through party circles in New York and Florida, Mr. Epstein was perhaps his most trusted wingman. In the 1990s and early 2000s, they prowled Mr. Epstein's Manhattan mansion and Mr. Trump's Plaza hotel, at least one of Mr. Trump's casinos in Atlantic City, and both of their homes in Palm Beach. They visited each other's offices and often talked on the phone.” Mr. Epstein might discuss tax havens, international affairs or neuroscience, according to other former Epstein employees and women who spent time at his homes. He talked to Mr. Trump about sex.”
This passage is the “billboard” of the article, the thesis, and it is fully supported by multiple sources who describe details of their relationship, how Trump regaled Epstein on the phone with “stories of his sexual exploits” and how Epstein delighted in forcing his embarrassed aides to listen on speakerphone. The Confessor and Tate recounted the recollections of a former Epstein aide, who recounted “one call in the mid-1990s in which two men discussed how much pubic hair a particular woman had and whether it was enough for Mr. Epstein to brush his teeth. On another occasion, Mr. Trump told Mr. Epstein about having sex with another woman on a pool table.”
