Newly released FBI documents indicate that Donald Trump allegedly contacted Palm Beach, Florida, police in the mid-2000s to thank them for investigating financier Jeffrey Epstein and urged them to focus on Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
According to a report summarizing a 2019 FBI interview with former Police Chief Michael Reiter, Trump reportedly told authorities, “thank goodness you’re stopping him,” adding that many people were aware of Epstein’s behavior. The document also states Trump described Maxwell as “evil” and suggested investigators concentrate on her.
The files were part of a large release ordered after Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in late 2025, requiring the Justice Department to disclose records related to the convicted sex offender.
Palm Beach police began investigating Epstein in 2005 after a report that a 14-year-old girl had been molested, which led to additional allegations of sexual abuse. Epstein was later convicted of sex trafficking minors in 2008 and served just over a year in jail under a controversial plea deal. He was arrested again in 2019 on federal charges and later died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell.
Trump has long said he distanced himself from Epstein in the early 2000s and removed him from his Mar-a-Lago club as rumors about Epstein circulated. Reiter’s FBI interview reportedly supported Trump’s claim that he cut ties with Epstein during that period.