Trump Doubled Down Defending Ghislaine Maxwell in 2020 Interview: ‘I’m Not Looking for Anything Bad for Her’
Screenshot via YouTube.
President Donald Trump’s administration has had an astonishingly tumultuous week in the aftermath of his Department of Justice issuing a memo denying disgraced financier and convicted sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein had maintained a client list. The memo both sparked intense rage from Trump’s MAGA base and reinvigorated his critics, with many pointing to the president’s comments from July 2020 about Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s accomplice and former girlfriend, saying “I wish her well” — but it’s an interview a few weeks later that was far more shocking.
Last week, the DOJ released a memo stating there was “no credible evidence” that Epstein had maintained a “client list” to blackmail the rich and powerful men who participated in his sexual abuse and trafficking of young women and underage girls.
The fallout from the Epstein files flop has emboldened Trump’s political opponents and reignited bitter internecine MAGA civil wars — messily playing out on social media and now involving a growing number of reports that Trump is considering finding a sacrificial lamb to fire. Both FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino have reportedly threatened to resign if Attorney General Pam Bondi stays. As Mediaite reported on Saturday, sources have said there have been high-level talks with Trump and his allies in which the president has seriously considered ousting Bondi.
On July 21, 2020, New York Post reporter Steven Nelson asked Trump about Maxwell’s arrest earlier that month, leading to the now-infamous “I wish her well” comment from the president.
NELSON: My second question, it’s a little bit different topic, but it’s one that a lot of people are talking about. Ghislaine Maxwell is in prison. So a lot of people want to know if she’s going to turn in powerful people, and I know you’ve talked in the past about Prince Andrew and you criticized Bill Clinton’s behavior. I’m wondering, do you feel that she’s going to turn in powerful men? How do you see that working out?
TRUMP: I don’t know. I haven’t really been following it too much. I just wish her well, frankly. I’ve met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach. And I guess they lived in Palm Beach. But I wish her well. Whatever it is. I don’t know the situation with Prince Andrew. Just don’t know. Not aware of it.
Jonathan Swan, then with Axios, conducted an interview with Trump in early August 2020 that generated many viral clips. One particular exchange focused on Maxwell, and Trump repeatedly expressed sympathy for her over Epstein’s death and said he “not looking for anything bad for her.”
SWAN: Mr. President, the other day, a reporter asked you about Ghislaine Maxwell. You said, “I just wish her well, frankly. I’ve met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach, but I wish her well, whatever it is.” Mr. President, Ghislaine Maxwell has been arrested on allegations of child sex trafficking. Why would you wish such a person well?
TRUMP: Well, first of all, I don’t know that, but I do know this —
SWAN: She has. She’s been arrested for that. You know that.
TRUMP: Her friend or boyfriend —
SWAN: Epstein.
TRUMP: — was either killed or committed suicide in jail. She’s now in jail. Yeah, I wish her well, I’d wish you well, l’d wish a lot of people well. Good luck. Let them prove somebody was guilty. I mean, you do know that she —
SWAN: Oh. So you’re saying you hope she doesn’t die in jail? Is that what you mean by wish her well?
TRUMP: Well, her boyfriend died in jail and people are still trying to figure out how did it happen? Was it suicide? Was he killed? And I do wish her well. I’m not looking for anything bad for her. I’m not looking bad for anybody. And they took that and made it such a big deal —
SWAN: I mean, she’s an alleged child sex trafficker.
TRUMP: But all it is is her boyfriend died. He died in jail. Was he killed? Was it suicide? I do, I wish her well.
On December 29, 2021, a federal jury in Manhattan convicted Maxwell of five of the six counts against her, finding her guilty of one count of sex trafficking a minor, one count of transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and three counts of conspiracy. The following June, she was sentenced to 20 years in prison, a $750,000 fine, and 5 years supervised release. Maxwell is currently 63 years old and incarcerated at a federal women’s prison in Tallahassee.
Watch the video clips above via CNN and Axios. The full interview between Trump and Swan is posted on YouTube here.
