A former top executive at Donald Trump’s Atlantic City casino says the president and Jeffrey Epstein were much closer than Trump has claimed—and once brought a 19-year-old girl onto the casino floor, where she wasn’t legally allowed to be.
Jack O’Donnell, who ran the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino from 1987 to 1991, told CNN that Trump and Epstein showed up together regularly. “In my mind, it [Epstein] was his best friend, you know, from really the time I was there for four years,” O’Donnell said.
O’Donnell recalled one night in the late ’80s when things crossed a line.
“Donald and Jeffrey had come into the casino in the wee hours of Sunday morning, 1:00, 1:30 in the morning,” O’Donnell told CNN’s Erin Burnett. “You know, two buddies, they had three women with them, and the commission was waiting for me because they had determined that the women that they brought down were underage to be in the casino.”
It is illegal for anyone under 21 to be on the gaming floor in New Jersey. The incident triggered an immediate response from the state’s casino commission, which regulates gambling in Atlantic City.
O’Donnell said the regulators flagged one of the women because one of the inspectors recognized her: “One of them was the number three-ranked tennis player in the world,” O’Donnell said. “And this guy happened to be a tennis fan and he said, ‘Jack, I know she’s 19 years old.’”
Rather than issuing a fine, the commission let Trump off with a warning—but not without making it clear who was responsible.
“They made me call him and I had to, believe it or not, read him the Riot Act about this action because they gave him a break,” O’Donnell said. “I had to call them and say, ‘they’re giving you a break this time, but if this happens again, the fine is going to be substantial and it’s going to be on your head.’”
O’Donnell says he also gave Trump a personal warning: “I did tell him in that conversation, ‘I don’t think you should be hanging out with this guy, just so you know, and you certainly shouldn’t be doing that in Atlantic City.’”
Asked about Trump’s relationship with Epstein, O’Donnell didn’t mince words: “To get on a helicopter with a friend and three other people and fly down to Atlantic City, I mean, you can connect those dots. They were pretty good buddies.”
The incident has resurfaced as Trump faces heat from both sides over the Epstein files. MAGA supporters are angry the Department of Justice closed the case, while Trump himself is reportedly furious that the issue won’t go away—complaining privately that his supporters won’t “shut the f*** up” about it.
Though Trump has tried to distance himself from Epstein since the financier’s 2019 jailhouse death, the record tells a different story.
In a 2002 interview with New York Magazine, Trump called Epstein a “terrific guy” and added: “It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
Now, with new allegations from someone who worked closely with Trump, those old photos and quotes carry more weight—and more questions.
Watch the interview below from CNN:
