Federal prosecutor was surprised by Trump’s flights on Epstein’s jet

In a 2020 email released Monday by the Justice Department, a federal prosecutor informed colleagues that President Donald Trump’s name appeared on the flight logs for Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet “many more times than previously has been reported (or that we were aware).”

The email, written in January 2020 by an unidentified federal prosecutor in Manhattan, noted that Trump was listed as a passenger on Epstein’s jet at least eight times from 1993 to 1996, including a few instances in which other passengers apparently included young women. The prosecutor wrote the message for “situational awareness” and “didn’t want any of this to be a surprise down the road,” according to the email.

The frequency of Trump’s travel on Epstein’s planes may have been news to prosecutors at the time, but the trips have since become public knowledge.

The logs tracking the comings and goings of Epstein’s planes, as well as their passengers, were exhibits in the criminal trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, one of Epstein’s closest associates. They show that Trump was among numerous prominent individuals — including former President Bill Clinton — who were repeat passengers.

According to the logs, Trump, his then-wife Marla Maples and his children Eric and Tiffany all flew on the plane in the mid-1990s. The plane took them to destinations that included Washington, D.C.; Palm Beach, Florida; and Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.

At the time, Donald Trump and Epstein were close friends, bonding over the pursuit of women.