Why is Donald Trump now campaigning from Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet?

Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein went way back. The former President and the notorious international pedophile hit it off in New York in the late 1980s, with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell going on to become a fixture at Mar-a-Lago. The depth of Trump and Epstein’s friendship was revealed by Trump himself in 2002, when he waxed lyrical about Epstein in an interview:

“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”

Trump was recorded as flying on Epstein’s private jet seven times between 1993 and 1997, ferrying him and his family between Palm Beach and New York. Cut to 2024 and Trump is back on Epstein’s jet as he attempts to save his increasingly chaotic third Presidential bid. Why on Earth is Trump back on this of all jets?

The Trumpita Express

The Gulfstream G550 is currently named N550GP, but was previously designated N212JE and was formerly owned by Epstein’s “Plan D LLC”, registered in the US Virgin Islands. Untangling Epstein’s finances after his suspicious death in 2019 took years, but it seems the plane was eventually purchased by the Threshold Aviation Group, who currently operate it for charter flights.

Trump usually travels in a 757, but that plane suffered mechanical issues on Friday while en route to Bozeman, Montana, forcing it to divert to Billings, Montana where it “landed without incident”. As such, he resorted to Epstein’s former plane as his backup ride, which now has “TRUMP 2024” emblazoned on the side. As such, this is almost certainly a huge coincidence, as we doubt Trump or his campaign team delve that deeply into the ownership of every jet they charter.

But if it’s a coincidence it’s an unfortunate one for Trump. Throughout his three campaigns, his team has done their best to sweep the Trump/Epstein connection under the rug and prevent it from becoming a political football. After all, many MAGA supporters are adamant that Trump is the last line of defense against an international adrenochrome-fuelled pedophile conspiracy, so his being best buds with Epstein and now flying on his jet isn’t a great look.

I wonder if when Trump first stepped on board he looked around and thought “hey, this all seems strangely familiar…”