Donald Trump regularly visited Jeffrey Epstein at his Palm Beach mansion, Epstein's housekeeper testified – but never got a massage or stayed there overnight and always ate his meals with the staff in the kitchen.
Juan Alessi's 2009 testimony was released Friday as part of the third tranche of documents released by a Manhattan judge. The documents were part of a defamation case filed in 2015 by one of Epstein's victims, Virginia Roberts-Giuffre, against Epstein's right-hand woman, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Alessi, who worked for Epstein from about 1990 to 2002, was asked whether Trump – whose Mar-a-Lago home is less than two miles from Epstein's dock site – had ever stayed overnight.
“No, never,” Alessi replied.
Alessi continued: “He would come and have dinner.” He never sat at the table. He eats with me in the kitchen.'
Donald Trump and Epstein are pictured together at Mar-a-Lago in 1997
Juan Alessi is pictured near his home in Florida in May 2020. He worked as Epstein's housekeeper from about 1990 to 2002
Epstein's waterfront Palm Beach mansion is less than two miles from Mar-a-Lago
The lawyer asked Alessi if Trump ever had massages at Epstein's home.
'NO. Because he has his own spa,” Alessi replied.
Trump has never been accused of wrongdoing, and he and Epstein clashed in 2004 over a Palm Beach real estate deal.
But the two men were close for well over a decade, with Epstein's infamous “black book” containing 16 of Trump's phone numbers.
Trump, who divorced his first wife Ivana in 1990, organized a “Calendar Girl” contest at Mar-a-Lago in 1992 with 28 participants.
Organizer George Houraney, who ran American Dream Enterprise, a small business in Florida that hosted a calendar girls contest and other events, was shocked to learn there were only two male guests — Trump and Epstein, according to Vanity Fair.
In November 1992, Trump hosted a raucous party with NFL cheerleaders at his Mar-a-Lago estate and invited Epstein.
And in 1997, the couple was photographed at a Victoria's Secret party in New York City.
In February 2000, Trump met Melania Knauss, and while hosting a professional tennis tournament at Mar-a-Lago, he was photographed with Epstein, Maxwell and Knauss.
According to Vanity Fair, Epstein claimed to have introduced the Slovenia-born model to Trump.
Donald and Melania Trump are seen with Epstein and Maxwell at Mar-a-Lago in February 2000
Epstein is pictured in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2004
“I have known Jeff for 15 years. “Great guy,” Trump told New York Magazine in 2002.
“He's a lot of fun to be with.” It's even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. There’s no doubt about it – Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”
After Epstein was arrested in July 2019, Trump said he only knew Epstein because “everyone in Palm Beach” knew him.
Trump said he hadn't spoken to Epstein “in 15 years” because of “a dispute.”
“I was not a fan of his, I can tell you that,” Trump said, also pointing out that Epstein was never a member of his Mar-a-Lago club.
Epstein's Palm Beach mansion was one of several places where he sexually abused young girls.
The waterfront property, just over a mile from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago, came on the market in 2020 for $21.9 million but is believed to have sold for $18 million.
Todd Michael Glaser, a Florida-based developer, now plans to demolish the existing home and build a new one in its place.