A seemingly offhand remark from a former president rippled quietly through the news cycle — a phrase so casual it almost slipped by unnoticed.
But when Donald Trump said Jeffrey Epstein had “stolen” a girl from his Mar-a-Lago club, that offhand comment suddenly exposed a raw, unresolved thread woven into one of the darkest stories of recent years.
Virginia Giuffre’s family responded with shock and outrage to Trump’s assertion. Giuffre, who had worked at Mar-a-Lago as a teenager, was famously trafficked by Epstein’s network, and her relatives took the comment as a painful reopening of old wounds.
They issued a statement urging that Ghislaine Maxwell — Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator — receive no presidential clemency, emphasizing that survivors must not be overshadowed by political rhetoric.
The family highlighted that Trump’s words raise difficult questions about what he might have known and when, calling for full transparency from authorities to honor the memory of Giuffre and all survivors of abuse.
Virginia Giuffre, a courageous advocate against sexual exploitation, tragically died by suicide in April. Throughout her life, she publicly accused powerful figures of abuse and fought legal battles to hold perpetrators accountable.
Ghislaine Maxwell approached 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre at Mar-a-Lago, where she worked at that time, and sex trafficked her to Jeffrey Epstein.
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) July 29, 2025
When asked what justice would look like for her, she said “I would like to see Ghislaine stay in jail forever.”
Virginia died by… pic.twitter.com/Dezj4QrXh9
This controversy unfolds amid ongoing Department of Justice investigations into Epstein’s sprawling network, including recent interviews with Maxwell by the deputy attorney general’s office.
Giuffre’s family insists Maxwell was the predator who targeted their then-16-year-old sister and demands that any potential leniency be firmly rejected.
In their plea for justice, the family underscores the necessity of putting survivors first and ensuring that political calculations do not dilute accountability.
They call on the government and the president to stand firm against efforts to lessen Maxwell’s sentence.
Conclusion
The Giuffre family’s vehement rejection of Trump’s claim that Epstein “stole” Virginia Giuffre from Mar-a-Lago brings into sharp focus how deeply unsettled this saga remains.
Their demand for transparency, refusal to countenance clemency for Maxwell, and call for answers about who knew what serve as a powerful reminder:
the voices of survivors and the quest for justice must remain central as investigations continue.