Who was Virginia Giuffre? Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein accuser who was once Trump's spa assistant

Amid growing pressure on the Trump administration over the controversial Epstein Files, US President Donald Trump, for the first time, spoke about his links with child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He said that he broke links with Epstein after the latter poached workers, including Virginia Giuffre, from his Mar-a-Lago resort. Virginia Giuffre alleged that Epstein arranged for Prince Andrew to sexually abuse her. She died by suicide in April this year.

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.

What Trump said about Virginia Giuffre?

Speaking for the first time about ties with Epstein, 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, including, Virginia Giuffre. Trump recalled warning Epstein not to recruit staff. When reporters pressed whether Giuffre was among those employees, Trump said, as reported by PEOPLE, "He took people that worked for me. And I told him, 'Don’t do it anymore.' And he did it." When asked if Giuffre was one of these employees, the president said, "I think she worked at the spa... I think so. I think that was one of the people. He stole her, and by the way, she had no complaints about us, as you know, none whatsoever." Trump also claimed that Giuffre never had a complaint about Mar‑a‑Lago during her employment.