Donald Trump hits back with strange response to claims he visited Jeffrey Epstein’s island

Donald Trump has responded to further questions over whether or not he visited Jeffrey Epstein's notorious island.

The convicted sex offender had his own private spot in the US Virgin Islands called Little Saint James, which he owned between 1998 and 2019 and legal representatives of his victims allege that many of his crimes took place there.

According to Vanity Fair, people living on the nearby St Thomas island said they saw Epstein coming and going on his private plane with girls under the age of consent, and that about twice a month Epstein would arrive with 'girls that look like they could be in high school.'

As such, the island is not a place anyone wants to be associated with but Donald Trump has had to answer questions about it as he struggles to escape from the spectre of Epstein.

Epstein once described himself as Donald Trump's 'closest friend for 10 years' and Trump said Epstein was a 'terrific guy' who was 'a lot of fun to be with', noting that he 'likes beautiful women as much as I do' and 'many of them are on the younger side.'

Donald Trump was in Scotland to play golf and chat with Keir Starmer, but he was asked about the Epstein files (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Since those times, Trump has disassociated himself with Epstein, saying that images of them together were 'fake news' and claiming that a birthday letter he allegedly wrote to Epstein which said 'may every day be another wonderful secret' was 'fake' too.

Trump was, earlier this year, accused of appearing in the Epstein files by Elon Musk after they broke up, with the Tesla boss suggesting that might be why they hadn't been fully released to the public.

Due to his former links with Epstein and his handling of the situation questions over how closely associated with the paedophile he was aren't going away, with Trump promising he'll 'give you a list' of Epstein's associates.

Currently visiting the UK to play golf (badly, it seems) and have a chat with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (while insulting one of his friends), Trump was once more asked about his links with Epstein and the US president insisted he'd never been to the sex offender's island.

He said: "I never had the privilege of going to his island, and I did turn it down, but a lot of people in Palm Beach were invited to his island."

Trump said he never went to Epstein's island (Davidoff Studios/Getty Images)

Trump being Trump, he couldn't resist patting himself on the back as he said the decision was 'one of my very good moments' as he insisted 'I didn't want to go to his island'.

"For years, I wouldn't talk to Jeffrey Epstein. I wouldn't talk because he did something that was inappropriate," Trump said of his former friend, and then told reporters that Epstein 'stole people' who used to work for him and got kicked out of Trump's Mar-a-lago residence for it.

"He hired help, and I said, ‘Don't ever do that again.’ He stole people that work for me. I said, ‘Don't ever do that again.’ He did it again.

"I threw him out of the place persona non grata. I threw him out, and that was it. I'm glad I did, if you want to know the truth. And by the way, I never went to the island."

He then took aim at some of his political rivals, claiming that the Epstein files were 'a hoax that’s been built up way beyond proportion' and had been 'run by the worst scum on Earth', which happened to include James Comey, Merrick Garland and Joe Biden.