📌 What the Reports Actually Say
In early 2026, newly unsealed court documents that are part of the Jeffrey Epstein case files included an FBI interview summary (from 2019) of former Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter. That document says that:
In July 2006, around the time local police were investigating Epstein in Palm Beach, Florida, Donald Trump allegedly called the Palm Beach Police Chief and spoke about Epstein’s conduct.
According to Reiter’s account in the FBI interview, Trump told him that “**thank goodness you’re stopping him — everyone has known he’s been doing this.””
Reiter also recalled Trump:
• Saying Epstein’s behavior was well-known among people in New York
• Describing Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell as “evil” and suggesting police “focus on her”
• Saying he had once been around Epstein when teenagers were present, then “got the hell out of there.”
The FBI summary also says Trump claimed he threw Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club.
👉 But importantly, the document does not show an official police record from 2006 — it’s a 2019 interview recounting a conversation from two decades earlier.
📌 What This Does and Doesn’t Prove
✅ What It Suggests
✔ The FBI interview record contains an account from then-Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter that Trump allegedly called law enforcement about Epstein in 2006.
✔ In that account, Trump is quoted as supporting the police investigation and criticizing Epstein and Maxwell.
✔ The revelation is significant because it contrasts with Trump’s public statements — especially his longstanding claim that he knew nothing of Epstein’s criminal activity.
❌ What It Does Not Confirm
✘ There is no official police log from the time showing Trump’s call — only the later FBI summary of an interview.
✘ The Department of Justice has stated it’s not aware of any corroborating evidence that Trump actually called law enforcement in 2006 beyond that interview.
✘ This does not prove Trump warned about Epstein’s criminal behavior before authorities were investigating it, nor does it establish he reported Epstein as a suspect in an official 2006 law enforcement filing. The interview reflects one person’s memory as recounted in 2019.
🧠 Why This Matters
📍 Historical Context
Jeffrey Epstein was first publicly charged in 2006 with soliciting prostitution from a minor in Palm Beach, Florida — a case initiated by local police.
Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter led that investigation, which later expanded and, controversially, resulted in a 2008 plea deal that many critics consider far too lenient. That earlier investigation into Epstein is a major part of the newly released files.
This alleged Trump call — if accurately remembered — occurred just as that first wave of law enforcement action was underway.
📍 Trump’s Relationship With Epstein
Trump and Epstein were socially acquainted in the 1990s and early 2000s. Trump has repeatedly said he cut ties with Epstein long before Epstein’s crimes came to light and has denied knowledge of any criminal activity.
The newly surfaced 2006 phone-call account complicates that narrative because it suggests Trump may have known something about Epstein’s reputation years before the 2008 conviction, at least according to the former police chief’s later recounting.
📌 Contradictions and Disputes
There are important counterpoints to consider:
The Department of Justice says it does not have corroborating evidence outside of the FBI’s interview summary that Trump called law enforcement in 2006.
Trump has denied that he had knowledge of Epstein’s crimes before they were publicly revealed.
Because the document is heavily redacted and summarized, the exact wording and context of what Trump allegedly said cannot be fully verified. The FBI’s 302 interview is not a verbatim transcript.
🧩 Expert and Media Reactions
Journalists and historians point out that even if Trump did call law enforcement in 2006, the timing matters — calling after allegations enter the public sphere is very different from reporting them first.
Some analysts see the claim as contradictory to Trump’s past denials and potentially undermining his earlier public statements.
Others emphasize that without further corroborating records, the claim remains unverified beyond the interview account.
🧠 Summary — In Plain Language
📌 According to a recently unearthed FBI interview summary of a Palm Beach Police Chief, Donald Trump allegedly called police in 2006 to express support for the Epstein investigation and to criticize Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
📌 This account appears in documents that became public in early 2026 as part of the broader release of Department of Justice files covering Epstein.
📌 There is no independent police record from 2006 confirming the call — and the DOJ says there’s no corroborating evidence beyond that one interview.
📌 Trump’s own public statements have long maintained he did not know about Epstein’s crimes and had cut ties years earlier, a narrative that this reported phone call could complicate if true.
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