US President Donald Trump ’s longtime biographer Michael Wolff has claimed that a bitter falling-out over a $36 million Palm Beach mansion was the turning point in the his friendship with infamous child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein .
He said that this betrayal may have sparked a chain of events ending in Epstein’s arrest, allegedly tipped off by Trump himself.
The centre of the fallout, Wolff said, was a luxury Palm Beach property Epstein believed he had secured in 2004 for $36 million. Epstein, who was close friends with Trump at the time, even brought him along to discuss changes to the swimming pool. But instead of giving advice, Trump allegedly went behind Epstein’s back and bought the house himself, for $40 million.
“Epstein… understood that he didn’t have $40 million to pay for this house,” Wolff said in a new interview. “If that was the case, it was someone else’s $40 million. At the time, Epstein believed this to be the $40 million of a Russian oligarch by the name of Rybolovlev.”
Less than two years later, the same house was sold for $95 million, to Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev. Wolff described the series of events as “a red flag of money laundering.”
Furious, Epstein allegedly began threatening Trump with lawsuits, and even going public with claims that Trump was the front man for a money laundering deal.
“Trump panics at this point,” said Wolff.
“Epstein believed, and he believed to his dying day, that it was Trump who went to the police… fully acquainted with what was going on at Epstein’s house… dropped the dime on him.”
Epstein was arrested in 2019 and later died in jail.
According to Wolff, the property dispute and Epstein’s threats triggered a chain of events that led to his legal downfall, beginning with his arrest shortly after returning from Paris.
Wolff first detailed this account in his 2019 book Siege, which Epstein read while in France. “He called me with some alarm and he said he was afraid that he might have said too much,” Wolff recalled. Three weeks later, Epstein was arrested upon landing in New Jersey.
The biography adds to a growing body of claims Wolff has made connecting Trump to Epstein and his former associate, Ghislaine Maxwell .
Earlier, Wolff had alleged that the White House believed Maxwell’s family deliberately leaked Epstein’s so-called “birthday book” to The Wall Street Journal, including a “salacious” 2003 birthday message from Trump, as a warning that she held damaging information. “In the White House, they believe that the story… was a leak from the Maxwell family,” Wolff had said.
He also previously claimed that Epstein played a key role in introducing Melania Trump to her future husband. “She’s introduced by a model agent, both of whom Trump and Epstein are involved with… Epstein knew her well,” Wolff told The Daily Beast podcast.
Though Trump has distanced himself from both Epstein and Maxwell in public statements, Wolff’s explosive claims continue to raise questions about just how intertwined their histories really are.
He said that this betrayal may have sparked a chain of events ending in Epstein’s arrest, allegedly tipped off by Trump himself.
The centre of the fallout, Wolff said, was a luxury Palm Beach property Epstein believed he had secured in 2004 for $36 million. Epstein, who was close friends with Trump at the time, even brought him along to discuss changes to the swimming pool. But instead of giving advice, Trump allegedly went behind Epstein’s back and bought the house himself, for $40 million.
Wolff: Now Epstein’s explanation for why this friendship ended is as follows.
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 31, 2025
In 2004, Epstein believed himself to be the high bidder on a piece of real estate in Palm Beach—a house. His bid was $36 million.
He took his friend Trump around to see the house, to advise him on how… pic.twitter.com/5aRYqN8BNr
“Epstein… understood that he didn’t have $40 million to pay for this house,” Wolff said in a new interview. “If that was the case, it was someone else’s $40 million. At the time, Epstein believed this to be the $40 million of a Russian oligarch by the name of Rybolovlev.”
Less than two years later, the same house was sold for $95 million, to Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev. Wolff described the series of events as “a red flag of money laundering.”
Furious, Epstein allegedly began threatening Trump with lawsuits, and even going public with claims that Trump was the front man for a money laundering deal.
“Trump panics at this point,” said Wolff.
“Epstein believed, and he believed to his dying day, that it was Trump who went to the police… fully acquainted with what was going on at Epstein’s house… dropped the dime on him.”
Epstein was arrested in 2019 and later died in jail.
According to Wolff, the property dispute and Epstein’s threats triggered a chain of events that led to his legal downfall, beginning with his arrest shortly after returning from Paris.
Wolff first detailed this account in his 2019 book Siege, which Epstein read while in France. “He called me with some alarm and he said he was afraid that he might have said too much,” Wolff recalled. Three weeks later, Epstein was arrested upon landing in New Jersey.
The biography adds to a growing body of claims Wolff has made connecting Trump to Epstein and his former associate, Ghislaine Maxwell .
Earlier, Wolff had alleged that the White House believed Maxwell’s family deliberately leaked Epstein’s so-called “birthday book” to The Wall Street Journal, including a “salacious” 2003 birthday message from Trump, as a warning that she held damaging information. “In the White House, they believe that the story… was a leak from the Maxwell family,” Wolff had said.
He also previously claimed that Epstein played a key role in introducing Melania Trump to her future husband. “She’s introduced by a model agent, both of whom Trump and Epstein are involved with… Epstein knew her well,” Wolff told The Daily Beast podcast.
Though Trump has distanced himself from both Epstein and Maxwell in public statements, Wolff’s explosive claims continue to raise questions about just how intertwined their histories really are.
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