Donald Trump

Donald Trump can’t seem to escape Jeffrey Epstein.

The criminally convicted ex-president appeared to fly on the disgraced financier’s plane over the weekend, with one company that specializes aviation reporting confirming the plane in question was previously owned by Epstein. The jet, a Gulfstream G550, landed at a small airport in Aspen, Colorado.

A Reddit sleuth (who else?) first made the observation, which was amplified on social media through an account called “Harris | Walz War Room.”

The Reddit user, “u/shiruken,” says an aviation company bought the plane from an LLC tied to Epstein in February 2021. Epstein died in August 2019 at the Metropolitan Correction Center following his arrest the previous month on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. (Officials say Epstein committed suicide in his cell, with a 2023 Department of Justice report outlining an array of security issues and staff failures at the facility.)

The Redditer outlines the plane’s apparent Epstein-affiliated history in their now-viral post. ““This aircraft’s old designation was N212JE (note the matching serial number) and was previously owned by Jeffrey Epstein (note the last two letters of the tail number),” they wrote. “The registration history shows it was owned by Epstein’s Plan D, LLC in the U.S. Virgin Islands before being transferred to N550GP, LLC in February 2021. The tail number was subsequently changed to N550GP in July 2021.”

The plane’s travel history matches up with Trump’s recent campaign stops. According to Flight Aware, the plane landed Friday in Bozeman, Montana, which is where Trump’s personal plane was grounded due to reported mechanical issues. Then the plane flew to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Aspen, where Trump held two fundraisers.

The Aspen Daily News confirms that Trump arrived on the aforementioned Gulfstream G-550 jet. On Sunday night, The Air Current, an outlet that covers aviation, reported its own confirmation as well.

Epstein flew with numerous high-profile figures on his plane, nicknamed the “Lolita Express.” One of his victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, says she was sexually assaulted on board. Her alleged abusers include British Royal family member Prince Andrew and the lawyer Alan Dershowitz, both of whose names appeared on flight logs from Epstein’s plane.

Though Trump denies he ever flew on the “Lolita Express,” flight logs released in 2021 indicate he was a passenger on several occasions.

Trump carried on a long relationship with Epstein, with one of Epstein’s accusers claiming she met the 78-year-old on a trip to Mar-a-Lago when she was 14 years old. At one point, Trump was fond of his friendship with Epstein, boasting about his social life in a 2002 interview with New York Magazine (before public allegations of wrongdoing against Epstein came to light).

“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Trump said. “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.”

Following Epstein’s arrest in 2019, NBC News resurfaced archived footage of Trump socializing with Epstein at Mar-a-Lago in 1992. (Trump and Epstein were also photographed together at his tacky Palm Beach resort in 2000.)

Trump distanced himself from Epstein in 2019, saying they had a “falling out.” But the two Palm Beach transplants seemed to socialize in the same circles.

Trump’s first Labor Secretary, Alex Acosta, was the U.S. attorney who oversaw a sweetheart plea agreement with Epstein in 2007, which provided him with immunity from federal prosecution and lenient work release privileges that allowed him to spend 16 hours per day at his office. (Epstein only served 13 months of his 18-month prison sentence.)

When Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s co-conspirator, was arrested in 2020, Trump wished her well. “I haven’t really been following it too much. I just wish her well, frankly,” he said.

“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,” he added.

Last week, a Maryland-based auction house announced it’s accepting bids for Epstein’s infamous “black book,” a document that contains phone numbers and contact info for nearly 400 power players, including–surprise!–Trump.

Since Epstein’s former jet was an emergency replacement, it’s unclear whether Trump or members of his team were aware of the plane’s sordid history. Still… what a coincidence!

Indeed, the truth is oftentimes stranger than fiction, as many on social media pointed out.

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