Trump's 2006 Call on Epstein: 'Everyone Knew' About His Behavior

Thu Feb 12 2026 00:05:47 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

A former police chief alleges that Donald Trump expressed awareness of Jeffrey Epstein’s misconduct during a call in 2006, raising fresh questions regarding the former president's past interactions with the disgraced financier.

In a recent FBI document, a former Florida police chief claimed that Donald Trump told him in 2006 that 'everyone' knew about Jeffrey Epstein's behavior. The document, stemming from a 2019 FBI interview, records Trump's remarks expressing relief that law enforcement was finally investigating Epstein. While the president denies any wrongdoing associated with Epstein, this revelation adds to the scrutiny of Trump's knowledge and timing regarding his relationship with Epstein. The discussion around Trump's 2006 statements is intensified as Ghislaine Maxwell continues to face legal repercussions for her involvement with Epstein.

A former Florida police chief said he received a call from Donald Trump in 2006 in which the now-president told him 'everyone' knows about Jeffrey Epstein’s behaviour, according to an FBI document released by the justice department.

The document is a written record of a 2019 FBI interview with the former Palm Beach police chief, who alleges Trump called him after the department launched an investigation into Epstein and said: 'Thank goodness you're stopping him, everyone has known he's been doing this.'

The officer's name is redacted, but the document identifies the interview subject as the Palm Beach police chief at the time of its Epstein investigation. That was Michael Reiter, who told the Miami Herald that he received the call from Trump.

The president has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein and has said he did not know about his crimes. The alleged call, however, is likely to raise further questions about what Trump knew and when.

Asked by reporters in 2019 - when Epstein was arrested by federal agents for sex trafficking - if he had 'any suspicions' about the disgraced financier, Trump said: 'No, I had no idea. I had no idea. I haven't spoken to him in many, many years.'

According to the FBI summary of the interview, which was released in the latest tranche of Epstein files, Reiter said Trump told him in a July 2006 call that he had thrown Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club and 'people in New York knew he was disgusting'.

Reiter claimed Trump called him one of the 'very first people' when he learned about the Florida police's investigation into Epstein.

The phone call allegedly indicates Trump was aware of Epstein's illicit activities long before the financier's eventual arrest and legal troubles, thus raising further questions surrounding Trump's longstanding ties to Epstein and his past justification for severing those ties.

In a recent statement, a DOJ official noted that they were unaware of any corroborating evidence of Trump's contact with law enforcement 20 years ago. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the call 'may or may not have happened in 2006.' However, she reiterated Trump's narrative of distancing from Epstein due to his questionable actions.

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