Donald Trump may have had something other than politics on his mind when he launched his first presidential campaign.
According to author Michael Wolff, Trump’s 2015 decision to run for the White House was largely about one thing: staying famous.
And Wolff says that assessment came from a rather infamous source.
In a new Substack column, the Trump biographer detailed conversations he had with Jeffrey Epstein about Trump, including the disgraced financier’s reaction when his former friend announced his presidential campaign.
At the time, Trump was still the star of The Apprentice. But according to Wolff, Epstein believed Trump was worried that his television career was beginning to fade.
“Epstein knew that Trump’s star turn on The Apprentice was fading and that he urgently needed a new platform for the promotion of Donald Trump,” Wolff wrote.
In other words, according to Wolff’s account, Trump wasn’t necessarily dreaming of becoming president.
Instead, he was looking for his next big platform.
Wolff claims Epstein believed Trump had always been primarily motivated by fame, money, and sex. And not in that order.
“Donald has never spent a moment in which being seen was not his main goal,” Wolff recalled Epstein telling him. “Money, sex, fame, it’s in that order.”
Wolff also claimed Epstein believed Trump’s fascination with former Presidents Bill Clinton and John F. Kennedy was connected to their reputations as powerful men who were almost as famous for their personal lives.
And while Epstein may have viewed Trump’s presidential campaign as another attempt to remain relevant, he apparently wasn’t amused by the prospect of Trump actually winning.
“You don’t understand, it’s Donald Trump. No shame. Do you understand how powerful that is?” Epstein allegedly told Wolff.
That concern apparently became even more significant after Trump won the 2016 election.
Wolff has previously described Epstein as being both fascinated and frightened by Trump. He also claims Epstein believed Trump had tipped off Palm Beach police about his activities, a claim that Trump has not acknowledged.
Trump and Epstein had been friends for years before their relationship deteriorated.
The Trump administration isn’t buying Wolff’s version of events.
White House spokesperson Lauren Bis called the author’s claims “lazy and false.”
She argued that Trump already had a successful television career when he entered politics and said he launched his campaign because he believed the country needed a change.
“President Trump declared his candidacy because he loves America,” Bis said (via Radar Online).
Trump has also maintained that he was never particularly close to Epstein and has said he cut ties with the convicted sex offender after Epstein’s 2008 conviction.
Still, Epstein’s relationship with Trump continues to generate controversy more than six years after his death.
And according to Wolff, the late financier had some very strong opinions about the man who would eventually become president.