'Are you kidding me?': New photos suggest Epstein-Trump ties go back decades — Here's how he responded

Bombshell archival photos from the early 1990s released on Tuesday (Jul 22) have once again brought to the fore the alleged ties between US President Donald Trump and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The photos made public by CNN's KFile service show the disgraced financier Epstein at Trump's 1993 wedding to Marla Maples. The revelation comes amid uproar over the Epstein files and as Trump attempts to distance himself from the child sex offender. While Trump has yet to formally address the bombshell photos on Truth Social (per his usual fashion) or elsewhere, in a brief call with the news organisation as per the report, all he had to say was, "Are you kidding me?" His team, however, has quite a bit to say.

How did Trump respond to photo proof of his old ties with Epstein?

Trump, a prominent figure in 1993 and now, had no dearth of big names at any of his three weddings. The ceremony for his second marriage to Marla Maples was held at Manhattan's iconic Plaza Hotel and was attended by a ton of celebrity guests. However, until now, Epstein's attendance hadn't been widely documented or publicly known.

As per the CNN report, the new organisation contacted Trump about the photos, and all the US President had to say was, "You've got to be kidding me," and called the outlet “fake news” before hanging up. Meanwhile, later, in a statement, White House spokesperson Steven Cheung offered a more formal rebuttal, calling the images "nothing more than out-of-context frame grabs of innocuous videos and pictures of widely attended events". He insisted that the pictures were being used "to disgustingly infer something nefarious". He insisted that “the fact is that the president kicked him out of his club for being a creep. This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media.”

Reports suggest that Trump and Epstein's relationship stretches back to at least the 1980s, according to multiple reports. They were often spotted together at events in both Palm Beach and New York. In 2002, Trump even offered a quote to New York Magazine, describing Epstein as a "terrific guy" who "likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side." However, no criminal accusations have been levelled against Trump in connection with Epstein.