Trump’s ex-wife warned about Epstein for years, according to former Mar-a-Lago staff

As the Jeffrey Epstein files keep flowing into the public sphere, many are combing through them to figure out exactly what kind of relationship the convicted child sex offender had with President Donald Trump. Turns out, Trump’s former wife, Marla Maples, thought it was too close all the way back in the mid-1990s.

As serious allegations of Trump conspiring with Epstein to rape a woman continue to splash across the internet, the president keeps insisting that, at that point in time, Epstein was just a popular guy and that their closeness is being overstated by the press. According to Trump, this entire saga is just another Democratic plot to undermine his administration, despite the opposition having many other weak points that are far less speculative.

Regardless, the issue with determining exactly when and how Trump and Epstein met and related over the years is that nearly all primary sources have proven unreliable so far. Trump has claimed that his falling-out with Epstein stemmed from Epstein poaching a treasured staff member from Mar-a-Lago, after which they drifted apart. This was notably before Epstein was convicted of any sex crimes.

Ghislaine Maxwell would be another primary source in this instance. But most critics have argued that she has far too much to gain from staying in the president’s good graces. Still, whether her testimony should be taken at face value or not, she told the Department of Justice that Trump was never involved in any of Epstein’s sex crimes and that he never visited the infamous Epstein island.

One of the few people who has not spoken publicly on the matter remains Marla Maples. Maples was married to Trump in the 1990s, during the height of his reinvention as a public figure following his financial difficulties at the tail end of the 1980s. Much like Prince Andrew, Epstein had a habit of befriending individuals who grew up surrounded by immense wealth and were later experiencing financial strain.

Whether driven by financial desperation or simple youth and naivety, Epstein targeted a very specific type of person to surround himself with. In retrospect, even Bill Gates — who has now been revealed to appear in multiple photos in the released files — has said he remembers Epstein as a “conman.” The full severity of their associations will be determined at a later date. But it is now apparent that many of them sensed Epstein’s sinister nature early on in their relationships.

Newsweek reports that the same was true for Maples. According to former staff at Trump’s Florida golf resort, Maples openly shared her dislike of the mysterious financier long before he was banned from Mar-a-Lago in 2003. She reportedly told employees that something was “wrong” and “off” about Epstein whenever his name came up.

It goes even further than that. According to the report, Maples told staff that she did not want to spend any time with Epstein and would have preferred that her husband avoid him as well. Trump and Maples ultimately separated soon after in 1997, finalizing their divorce two years later in 1999.