President Trump on Tuesday said he wishes Ghislaine Maxwell well as the associate of Jeffrey Epstein awaits a trial on charges that she helped recruit girls who were sexually abused.
“I haven’t really been following it too much. I just wish her well, frankly. I’ve met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach, and I guess they lived in Palm Beach,” Trump told reporters at a White House briefing on the coronavirus pandemic.
“But I wish her well, whatever it is,” he added.
Maxwell pleaded not guilty earlier this month to sex crime and perjury charges. Authorities allege she helped entice and transport minors to engage in sexual acts in the mid-1990s. Her trial is scheduled to begin in July 2021.
A Manhattan judge denied her bail at her hearing, saying she posed a risk to flee the country.
Trump’s connections to Epstein and Maxwell came under scrutiny after Epstein was indicted last summer on sex trafficking charges. The billionaire killed himself in his jail cell last August while awaiting trial.
Prior to his death, prosecutors in New York alleged that Epstein, 66, engaged in sex acts with girls as young as 14 and had some girls recruit others to be part of an alleged sex trafficking operation. Epstein denied any wrongdoing.
Trump and Epstein were known to run in the same social circles in New York and Florida. Trump told New York magazine in a 2002 article that Epstein is a “terrific guy” and “a lot of fun to be with.”
He has since said that the two had a falling out and had not seen or spoken to each other in years.