Did Trump know about Epstein's activities? Virginia Giuffre's family questions US president on 'stole her from spa' remark

Days after US President Donald Trump revealed that child sex offender late Jeffrey Epstein ‘stole’ young women, including Virginia Giuffre, from his Mar-a-Lago resort, the Giuffre family has responded. Giuffre, who became one of the most prominent accusers of Epstein, died by suicide in April this year. As per a report, her family has questioned Donald Trump over his statement. The family has asked if the US president had prior information about the activities of Epstein and his former girlfriend, and convicted Ghislaine Maxwell. Notably, Trump's statement about Giuffre is the first when he has acknowledged possible links with Epstein and knowledge about his illicit activities. There has been growing pressure on the Trump administration to release the controversial Epstein Files.

“It makes us ask if he was aware of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal actions, especially given his statement two years later that his good friend Jeffrey ‘likes women on the younger side … no doubt about it,’” Giuffre’s two brothers and her sisters-in-law told The Atlantic in an exclusive statement. “We and the public are asking for answers; survivors deserve this,” they added.

Donald Trump said he cut all ties with Epstein and banished him from Mar‑a‑Lago after learning he had hired away “young women” working at the club’s spa. "He took people that worked for me. And I told him, 'Don’t do it anymore.' And he did it," Trump said, telling reporters that he barred Epstein from Mar-a-Lago, his estate in Palm Beach, Florida. "I said, 'Stay the hell out of here,'" he said. Pressed about whether any of the "stolen" employees were young women, Trump said many of them worked in the club's spa. "The answer is yes, they were in the spa," he said. “I told him, I said, 'Listen, we don’t want you taking our people, whether it was spa or not spa.' ... And he was fine. And then not too long after that, he did it again.” Trump also claimed that Giuffre never had a complaint about Mar‑a‑Lago during her employment.

Who is Virginia Giuffre?

Virginia Louise Giuffre was born as Virginia Roberts in August 1983, in Sacramento, California. She later moved to Palm Beach, Florida. Her father worked in maintenance at Trump’s Mar‑a‑Lago club. In the summer of 2000, while working as a spa attendant and reading a massage‑therapy book, she was approached by Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell recruited the 16‑year‑old and introduced her to Jeffrey Epstein, allegedly grooming her for sex trafficking under the guise of massage training. In 2002, she escaped and married Australian martial arts trainer Robert Giuffre and settled in Australia, raising three children together: two sons, Christian and Noah, and a daughter, Emily.

She later became one of the most prominent accusers in the legal case against Epstein and Maxwell. She reportedly filed her civil lawsuit under the pseudonym Jane Doe 3. Her testimony and unsealed court documents became pivotal in Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal conviction in 2021. She also sued Prince Andrew, alleging she was trafficked to him, resulting in an out-of-court settlement in 2022. Giuffre died by suicide in April this year, at age 41, at her home in suburban Perth, Australia. Giuffre launched a nonprofit, first Victims Refuse Silence, later relaunched as Speak Out, Act, Reclaim (SOAR), to support survivors of sex trafficking and push for justice.