Insight into President Donald Trump’s relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein seems to grow deeper by the day.
Trump’s strategy? To proclaim there’s no “there” there.
Reached by phone Tuesday morning, Trump told NBC News, it’s a “dead issue.”
“I don’t comment on something that’s a dead issue,” Trump told the outlet, apparently referencing his relationship with Epstein ― not Epstein’s suspicious 2019 jailhouse death. “I gave all comments to the staff. It’s a dead issue.”
The “issue” in question is a creepy note Trump allegedly gave Epstein for his 50th birthday that talks about a “wonderful secret” the two share and notes that “enigmas never age.”
The note is framed by a crude outline of a woman, with what appears to be Trump’s squiggle of a signature occupying space near the groin.
“A pal is a wonderful thing,” the note concludes. “Happy birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
The White House has denied the authenticity of the document, claiming the signature doesn’t match the president’s.
“As I have said all along, it’s very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, adding that the administration will “continue to aggressively pursue litigation.”
Trump sued The Wall Street Journal in July after the paper reported on the message but didn’t release the note itself.
Epstein’s “birthday book” contains at least one other Trump reference: A crude joke about Trump buying a woman from Epstein for $22,500.
The “joke” is accompanied by a photo of Epstein standing next to longtime Mar-a-Lago member Joel Pashcow and a woman whose face has been obscured. They hold up an oversized check made out to Epstein for $22,500 and purportedly signed by Trump.
A note below the photo reads, “Jeffrey showing early talents with money + women! Sells ‘fully depreciated’ [redacted] to Donald Trump for $22,500.”