Trump's Reaction to The Epstein Survivors' Press Conference Was Way Weirder Than You Think

Trump Has A Warm Personal History With One Of The Epstein Survivors. So, Why Did He React So Badly To Her Graceful, Subtle Plea For Help?

Anouska De Georgiou at the Capitol Yesterday

What was Donald Trump thinking when he responded so truculently to a reporter’s question about yesterday’s poignant, powerful and non-political Epstein survivor press conference and called it a “Democrat hoax”?

It’s baffling.

And not just because nothing about yesterday’s proceedings was remotely partisan or political. In fact, I’d posit that it’s hard to think of a more uplifting display of unity on the Capitol steps, even if the impetus behind it stemmed from unfathomable abuse and suffering.

But what’s a far bigger head-scratcher in my mind is that Trump has a personal history - in a good way, as far as I know - with the first Epstein survivor to speak: Anouska De Georgiou.

De Georgiou, 48, is the dazzling, articulate British-born blonde who runs the Kintsugi Foundation, a transitional residential facility in Los Angeles.

Yesterday, she described not only how she suffered abuse from Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell for over a decade but how she was then followed, stalked and threatened - even with death - if she ever talked about what happened. Giving birth to her daughter, she said, was what ultimately gave her the courage to turn around and fight.

Yesterday marked the first time that De Georgiou has said publicly that she has “testified’. I’ve been given permission to explain that she was one of the four key witnesses in Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal trial in which she testified under the pseudonym, Kate. She alluded to this yesterday, because she has very good reason, given recent events:

“If Ghislaine Maxwell were pardoned, it would undermine all the sacrifices I made to testify and make a mockery of mine and all survivors’ suffering,” she said.

She continued:

“That is why the Epstein Files Transparency act is so essential. It requires the Department of Justice release all the records related to Epstein and Maxwell investigations, flight logs, immunity deals, internal communications, and even the records surrounding Epstein's detention and death. And crucially, it forbids withholding documents simply because of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity. This is about ending secrecy wherever abuse of power takes root.”

I remember being in federal court in downtown Manhattan on December 6th 2021 for Maxwell’s trial and listening to De Georgiou’s deeply upsetting testimony. I remember the moment when she described how Maxwell left her a schoolgirl outfit on her bed in Epstein’s house in Palm Beach.

I also remember her describing her circumstances when she met Maxwell in Paris. She was 17. Her mom had been ill. Maxwell seemed impossibly glamorous. The sort of older female friend, most ambitious teenagers would long to have.

I first stumbled across the story of her friendship with Trump back in 2002 when I was reporting on Epstein (and Maxwell) for Vanity Fair. Regrettably, I didn’t hear anything back then about her relationship with Epstein. If I had, you can be sure I would have included it in the piece. Or tried to. (As you know, what I had from the Farmer sisters, was removed just before publication).

The story I was told was that Maxwell had introduced De Georgiou to Trump at a party in Manhattan when De Georgiou was 20 years old, and that Trump, who was newly separated from Marla Maples, had been captivated.

Reportedly, Trump whisked them both off to Palm Beach for a weekend. There was never a suggestion that there was anything nefarious about it, given both Trump and De Georgiou were single and adults. It was, however, said to be very whirlwind.

Since then De Georgiou has only had warm things to say publicly about Trump.

The London Times has quoted her saying: “We went for dinner a few times. We’re friends now and I attended his wedding. He’s adorable. He has been so kind to me.”

Given this context, yesterday I heard her send a warm, humble and personal message to him, in her closing remarks yesterday.

“President Trump, you have so much influence and power in this situation. Please use that influence and power to help us, because we need it now, and this country needs it now.”

Nothing hostile in that, surely?

Just a friend asking an old friend who is in a position to help, to help, without, even applying pressure by publicly referencing their past friendship. I think I am one of the very few people who is aware they even know each other.

I thought it was pure class. Of the kind, in fact, that Trump normally responds extremely positively to.

So, I am genuinely bewildered by Trump’s reaction.

I reached out to both De Georgiou and to Brad Edwards her lawyer who, ironically, also has had a good relationship, historically with Trump.

In Relentless Pursuit, his 2020 book about his long-standing battles on behalf of hundreds of Epstein survivors, Edwards talks positively about his two encounters with Trump. In 2009, Edwards writes that Trump was helpful in answering questions about Epstein, and appeared to confirm the story that he’d kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago (something that was also told to my partner and co-author James Patterson, who published Filthy Rich in 2016 about Epstein and his abuse).

And, Edwards also writes, that in 2015, during a conversation about a different lawsuit, Trump was forthcoming about Epstein to Edwards again.

So what do they make of yesterday’s reaction?

Edwards wrote me: “We are as genuinely perplexed at this point, as you are…”

He does not think this is about self-protection and neither do I. I’ve never heard any of the Epstein survivors implicate Trump as part of Epstein and Maxwell’s sex crimes. Yes, Trump and Epstein were friends before falling out. But that is not news.

Here’s my speculative (and, yes, generous) thought: I wonder if Trump had had a chance to watch the survivors’ press conference, before he was asked about it.

I got the impression, watching the video of his reaction that he hadn’t yet seen it - nor heard De Georgiou and her very subtle, elegant plea to him:

I wonder if, since then, he might have seen it, and perhaps changed his mind.

For the sake of De Georgiou and the other brave women who spoke up for all survivors yesterday, regardless of anyone’s politics, I certainly hope so.