Trump Told Police Chief 'Everyone Knew' About Epstein in 2006, FBI Document Reveals

A single phone call from 2006 has resurfaced to haunt Donald Trump's presidency. According to a newly released FBI document, Trump allegedly told a Florida police chief that "everyone" knew about Jeffrey Epstein's criminal behavior—a claim that directly contradicts years of presidential denials.

The Call That Changes Everything

The FBI document, part of the latest tranche of Epstein files, records a 2019 interview with Michael Reiter, the former Palm Beach police chief. According to Reiter's testimony, Trump called him in July 2006 after police launched their investigation into Epstein, saying: "Thank goodness you're stopping him, everyone has known he's been doing this."

But the alleged conversation didn't stop there. Reiter claims Trump revealed he had already thrown Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club and that "people in New York knew he was disgusting." Even more striking, Trump allegedly identified Ghislaine Maxwell as Epstein's "operative," calling her "evil" and urging police to "focus on her."

Maxwell was convicted in 2021 for her role in recruiting underage girls for Epstein's abuse.

A Pattern of Denials Meets New Evidence

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Trump's public stance has been consistent: he knew nothing about Epstein's crimes. When Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges, Trump told reporters: "No, I had no idea. I had no idea. I haven't spoken to him in many, many years."

Yet Reiter's account paints a different picture. The former police chief claims Trump admitted being around Epstein when he was with teenagers, saying he "got the hell out of there." More significantly, Trump was allegedly among the "very first people to call" when word spread about the police investigation.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt offered a carefully worded response Tuesday: "It may or may not have happened in 2006. I don't know the answer." She added that if the call occurred, it would "corroborate exactly what President Trump has said from the beginning" about ejecting Epstein from Mar-a-Lago.

The Broader Web of Connections

The Justice Department maintains it's "not aware of any corroborating evidence that the president contacted law enforcement 20 years ago." But the document adds another layer to the complex relationship between Trump and Epstein, who socialized together in the 1990s before their alleged falling out around 2004.

Trump has explained their split as a business dispute, claiming Epstein tried to "steal" employees from Mar-a-Lago. "When I heard about it, I told him, we don't want you taking our people," Trump said in July. "He was fine and then not too long after that he did it again and I said 'outta here'."

Meanwhile, Maxwell—serving a 20-year prison sentence—invoked the Fifth Amendment during a closed-door congressional hearing Monday, refusing to answer questions. Her lawyer dangled a potential carrot: she's "prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump." Trump has said he hasn't considered pardoning Maxwell.