A signed copy of one of his own books to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein is among a trove of new headaches for Donald Trump.
The president gifted Epstein the copy of Trump: The Art of the Comeback with the personalized inscription, “To Jeff-You are the greatest!,” the New York Times reported.
The Times said it reviewed the message, which was signed “Donald” and dated “Oct `97.”
Trump’s book was released Oct. 31, 1997. In it, he offers 10 tips for success which include, “Work with people you like,” and, “Go against the tide.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
The Times report comes on the heels of the Wall Street Journal’s report earlier this month that claimed Trump was one of dozens of Epstein’s friends who contributed messages for a book to celebrate the late financier’s 50th birthday in 2003. Trump denied the letter’s existence and sued the Journal shortly after publication.
The Times viewed a list of contributors to the birthday book that included the owner of lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret Leslie H. Wexner, physicist Murray Gell-Mann, and former CEO of the Bear Stearns Companies Alan C. Greenberg. Gell-Mann and Greenberg are now deceased.
Epstein’s longtime girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell had also reportedly handwritten an introductory letter to the book. It read, “The idea behind the book was simply to gather stories and old photographs to jog your memory about places, people and different events.”
The letter ends, “I know you will enjoy looking through the book, and I hope you will derive as much pleasure looking through it as I did putting it together for you.”
In a new story on Thursday, the Journal claimed former President Bill Clinton also provided a birthday letter for the book, as well as fashion designer Vera Wang, Wall Street billionaire Leon Black and billionaire media proprietor Mort Zuckerman.
Lawyer Bradley Edwards, who has represented over 200 of Epstein’s victims, said on Wednesday his clients had told him the birthday book definitely existed, as some had worked on it.
“I do know that they were involved in the assembly of the book, several of them,” Edwards said on MSNBC. “They were told by Ghislaine to assist in putting the book together. Others have seen the book post-birthday and after it was assembled. So the existence of the book is an absolute fact.”
The lawyer added “Now, who wrote letters, what’s in the book? You’re going to have to get the book to figure it out. But this isn’t something that needs to be a mystery forever and drag the victims into all kinds of anxiety, for nothing. We can get that answer pretty quickly.“
Trump took to Truth Social shortly after the latest revelations to smear the Epstein drama as a “scam.”
White House spokesman Steven Cheung repeated earlier denials to the Times in a statement, claiming Trump had kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago “for being a creep.”
