A resurfaced claim from a former Trump executive is reigniting scrutiny of the former president’s decades-long relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In an interview originally reported by People Magazine and aired on CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront, Jack O’Donnell, who managed the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in the 1980s, alleged that Donald Trump and Epstein were once caught bringing underage girls onto the casino floor—a clear violation of New Jersey law.
“They had determined that the women that they brought down were underage to be in the casino,” O’Donnell said. “One of them was the No. 3-ranked tennis player in the world. She was 19.”
According to O’Donnell, the state casino commission discovered the incident in real time thanks to an inspector who happened to be a tennis fan. Though gambling under the age of 21 is illegal in New Jersey, the future president allegedly received only a warning.
Trump, Epstein, and the Alleged Casino Incident That Ended in a Quiet Warning
The story, as told by O’Donnell, took place in the late 1980s, when Trump and Epstein would frequently visit the Trump Plaza together. O’Donnell claims the two arrived with three young women, whom they escorted onto the casino floor.
The next day, he says, state inspectors were waiting in his office, identifying at least one of the girls as a 19-year-old tennis prodigy.
“I had to call them and say, ‘They’re giving you a break this time,’” O’Donnell told CNN. “‘But if this happens again, the fine is going to be substantial and it’s going to be on your head.’”
He also said he directly warned Trump about Epstein’s behavior.
“I told him: I don’t think you should be hanging out with this guy. And you certainly shouldn’t be doing that in Atlantic City.”
The alleged episode never made headlines at the time, and no formal penalty was issued.
The White House Responds: “Stone Cold Loser”
The Trump White House quickly denied the claims, issuing a characteristically aggressive statement to People Magazine on Thursday.
“Jack O’Donnell is a stone cold loser who is a liar and a fraud,” said communications director Steven Cheung. “This is a completely fabricated story from his warped imagination as he suffers from Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his pea-sized brain.”
O’Donnell, a former president of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, left the Trump Organization in the early 1990s. His 1991 book Trumped! offered an insider account of the company’s mismanagement during its Atlantic City years and has long made him a thorn in Trump’s side.
See also: Did the FBI Just Get Caught? Epstein’s “Raw” Prison Footage Was Likely Modified
Old Friends, New Problems
Trump’s relationship with Epstein has continued to shadow him, even after Epstein’s 2019 death in a Manhattan jail. Though Trump once called Epstein a “terrific guy” who liked “beautiful women, many of them on the younger side,” he has since attempted to distance himself from the disgraced financier.
But the issue keeps resurfacing. In recent months, Trump has promised—but failed—to release a trove of Epstein-related files, including one Department of Justice inventory item labeled “girl pics nude book 4.” The DOJ and FBI recently declared the Epstein investigation “closed,” stating no client list exists and no further documents will be unsealed without court approval.
The delay has fractured Trump’s MAGA base, with conspiracy-minded supporters now accusing his administration of hiding the truth. Trump, in turn, has lashed out at them.
“My PAST supporters have bought into this bull—, hook, line, and sinker,” Trump posted to Truth Social. “Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats’ work.”
When pressed by a reporter for more information on Epstein last week, Trump snapped:
“I mean, I can’t believe you’re asking a question on Epstein at a time like this… It just seems like a desecration.”
See also: No Client List, No Charges, No Closure: DOJ Closes the Book on Epstein Files
What It All Adds Up To
O’Donnell’s claim may be decades old, but the timing of its resurfacing is striking: it arrives amid ongoing public pressure on the Trump administration to declassify Epstein files, persistent rumors about a hidden “client list,” and a general unease about what powerful men got away with for so long.
At minimum, the story adds another layer to Trump’s now-documented ties to Epstein—one that raises questions about oversight, privilege, and the normalization of exploitative behavior in elite circles. Whether or not it results in accountability remains, as ever, an open question.
