Full Breakdown
Trump and Epstein: Prison Anecdote Revives Jet Controversy
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Event: Epstein’s Plane Tale Involving Donald Trump
In a TMZ documentary, former Metropolitan Correctional Center inmate William Mersey recounts that Jeffrey Epstein described a private-jet flight with Trump and a “French girl” he was dating. Mersey says he asked Epstein for an anecdote that would capture “Donald Trump’s essence,” prompting Epstein to launch into a story about a flight from New York to Miami, a stop-over suggestion in Atlantic City, and a dismissive comment that Atlantic City was “white trash.”
Background: Flight Records and the “Lolita Express”
A Justice Department email released in December 2025 notes that flight logs show Trump listed as a passenger on at least eight of Epstein’s private-jet trips between 1993 and 1996, including a 1993 flight with only the two men recorded. Business Insider cited a 1997 Gulfstream II log that also places Trump aboard. Epstein’s fleet included a Boeing 727 dubbed the “Lolita Express,” a nickname derived from the novel *Lolita* and linked by survivors to alleged trafficking of minors. Ownership records indicate the 727 was acquired by an Epstein-related company in 2001, after the earlier flights involving Trump.
Official Statements & Responses
Data & Statistics
Verbatim Quotes
- “One day I went down, and I said verbatim, ‘Give me one anecdote that’s emblematic of Donald Trump’s essence,’” — William Mersey, writer and journalist.
- “That fired Jeffrey up immediately. He said, ‘I got it,’” — William Mersey, writer and journalist.
- “And Donald said, ‘Why don’t we stop in Atlantic City so I can show your friend my casino?’” — William Mersey, writer and journalist.
- “I was never on Epstein’s Plane, or at his ‘stupid’ Island,” — Donald Trump, former president.