Kayleigh McEnany, a Fox News host and former White House press secretary under Donald Trump, incorrectly claimed on Friday that Trump never travelled on Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet. The false statement came during a discussion of Bill Clinton’s ties to the late sex offender.
McEnany said: “I would note that Donald Trump was not on the plane... So putting him in the same pool as Bill Clinton, who was on the plane I think it was 17 times, 27 times” would be unfair. However, flight records released by the justice department show Trump flew on Epstein’s jet many times.
In a 2020 email exchange made public in December, a federal prosecutor involved in Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial told colleagues: “The flight records we received yesterday reflect that Donald Trump traveled on Epstein’s private jet many more times than previously has been reported (or that we were aware), including during the period we would expect to charge in a Maxwell case.”
The prosecutor noted Trump is listed as a passenger on at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996, including at least four where Maxwell was also present. He travelled with Marla Maples, his daughter Tiffany, and his son Eric at various times. On one 1993 flight, only Trump and Epstein were listed; on another, the only passengers were Epstein, Trump, and a then-20-year-old woman whose name has been redacted.
While Clinton flew on Epstein’s plane 26 times between 2002 and 2003, the evidence shows Trump also used the jet. The contradiction highlights McEnany’s misleading defence of her former boss.
