Stolen and Betrayed - Trump’s Words About Virginia Giuffre Cast a Deadly Light on the Epstein Scandal

When Donald Trump told reporters that Jeffrey Epstein had “stolen” a young woman from him, the statement hit the family of Virginia Roberts Giuffre like a blow. Their sister was one of the most well-known survivors of Epstein’s sex trafficking network - and now the President of the United States was speaking about her as if she were an object. Even more troubling was that his words raised the question of whether Trump may have known more about the actions of his former friend than he had previously admitted. “It makes us ask whether he was aware of the criminal acts of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, especially after his own statement two years later that his good friend Jeffrey ‘likes women on the younger side … without a doubt,’” Virginia’s brothers and sisters-in-law said in an exclusive statement. “We and the public demand answers; the survivors have a right to them.”

Virginia Giuffre took her own life in April 2025 at her home in Australia. For years, she had cooperated with authorities, filed civil lawsuits, and endured severe threats, slander, and financial ruin. Her family describes how the once cheerful teenager, who only sought a harmless summer job at Mar-a-Lago, was recruited by Maxwell and abused and trafficked by Epstein between 1999 and 2002 - including to high-ranking men such as British Prince Andrew and French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel. Both denied any wrongdoing; Andrew paid an undisclosed settlement in 2022, and Brunel died in French custody in 2022. Trump’s spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt emphasized that the President only mentioned Giuffre when asked by a reporter and never admitted any misconduct himself. He had banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago at the time because he had been “disgusting to his female staff.” Yet his own words on Air Force One sounded different: “I think so. I think that was one of them,” Trump said when asked if Giuffre was the young woman Epstein had “stolen” from him. And he added, “And by the way, she had no complaints about us.”

These remarks not only sparked new speculation but also raised the suspicion that Trump at least partially knew what Epstein and Maxwell were doing. For years, the Epstein scandal had gripped the public: the mysterious circumstances of his death in a New York prison, countless court records - some redacted, some released - and the constant question of who else might have been part of the network. Giuffre’s family is appalled by the current political maneuvering. That Maxwell is now even offering to testify before Congress if she receives immunity in return feels like mockery to them.

For them, the woman who drove their sister and so many other girls into a life of violence and abuse is a notorious liar whose 20-year prison sentence is only a fraction of what she deserves. “If our sister could speak today, she would be most angry that the government is listening to a known perjurer who keeps lying as long as it benefits her,” the family wrote. And they warn that any political or legal leniency would be a slap in the face of all victims. The memory of Virginia Giuffre remains a solemn legacy. She was the woman who never stayed silent, who confronted powerful men, and who fought for the truth, even when it cost her everything. Her words echo beyond her death - and they expose the destructive force of the silence that surrounded this scandal for so long.

„It was a cruel time in my life. I had just been abused by a member of a royal family. … These powerful people were my chains. I could not comprehend how the highest levels of government could allow such a thing - indeed, even take part.”

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