TLDR: In 1997, nine years before Jeffrey Epstein's first arrest for sex crimes, a UK tabloid formerly owned by Ghislaine Maxwell's father Robert referred to the 35-year-old Ghislaine as "Madam Maxwell," noting that she had "introduced several of her attractive friends" to 51-year-old Donald Trump. As Josh Marshall noted on Bluesky this month, this unusual word choice — a strange way to refer to the socialite daughter of a famous media mogul — "makes clear how widely understood all of this was," even back then.
I used to think Trump had no shame.
But clearly there's something in the Epstein Files he's ashamed about.
Which means it's something worse than him ogling naked teen pageant contestants. Or contemplating what sex with "troubled teen" Lindsay Lohan would be like the year she turned 18. Or imagining whether his baby daughter Tiffany would have breasts like her model mom Marla Maples. Or telling Howard Stern it's OK to call his daughter Ivanka "a piece of ass." Or saying he'd like to "date" Ivanka. Or admitting that he grabs women "by the pussy" just because he can. Or sexually assaulting one of Jeffrey Epstein's girlfriends in Trump Tower. Or committing adultery with an adult film star while his wife Melania was home with new baby Barron. Or being found liable by a jury for a sexual assault in a New York City department store in a finding that, said the judge, met the standard definition of rape.
If Trump did something worse than all of that — and unless his victims are brave enough to come forward — only two people living know about it.
One is Trump.
The other is Ghislaine Maxwell.
And neither is talking.
Epstein was the pimp. Maxwell was the madam.
In July 2025, Brad Edwards — a victims' attorney who has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for more than 200 survivors of Epstein's sex abuse and trafficking — told ABC News : "Jeffrey Epstein was the pimp and the john. He was his own No. 1 client."
And if Epstein was the pimp, it was Ghislaine Maxwell who served as the functional madam of his roving, ultra-exclusive brothel.
According to the U.S. Government's 2022 sentencing memorandum, Maxwell was the "organizer and leader of a massive operation that spanned many years":
In operating as the lady of the house and as Epstein’s right hand, the defendant was responsible for overseeing and organizing extensive logistics involved in facilitating the sexual abuse of multiple minors and ensuring a culture of silence that prevented that scheme from being uncovered. Epstein and the defendant were two knowing participants who took the lead in identifying, enticing, and grooming minor girls to be abused.
Just like the madam of a traditional brothel, Maxwell was expected to be the keeper of secrets — and protector of the client list.
Other madams involved in Epstein-era scandals have played a similar role.
- "Manhattan Madam" Kristin Davis who served time for supplying prostitutes to former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer said recently on Instagram that she herself protected over 10,000 clients after her arrest.
- Spitzer was also "Client No. 9" at the Emperors Club VIP escort agency, a scandal which derailed his political career, but for which he was not prosecuted. Court authorized wiretaps and search warrants in that FBI investigation netted more than 5,000 telephone calls and text messages and more than 6,000 e-mails, along with bank records, travel and hotel records, and evidence obtained through physical surveillance. Cecil Suwal, the 20-something madam in that case, also served time.
In both cases, the government knew who the clients were. But the madams weren't talking. And because the sex workers were adults and the sex was consensual, no other clients were publicly identified or prosecuted.
Could someone in or outside of government used those lists to blackmail people later? That's always a possibility, especially when you realize that Davis went on to become fast friends with seedy Trump associates including dirty trickster Roger Stone and disgraced former NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik, before taking the role of RFK Jr's 2024 "PR guru."
In Ghislaine Maxwell's case, because her "girls" were mostly underage victims, not adult sex workers, her discretion was extremely important to the powerful — and highly recognizable — men she invited and transported to Epstein's homes in NYC, Palm Beach, "Epstein Island," and beyond.
As the daughter of late media tycoon Robert Maxwell, Ghislaine had the ability to move in elite circles on both sides of the Atlantic, offering a reassuring profile to the royals, tycoons, and politicians for whom she groomed and procured women.
Maxwell first met Donald Trump aboard her father's yacht, the Lady Ghislaine, in 1989. After Robert Maxwell, a suspected Israeli superspy, fell off that yacht and drowned in November 1991, Ghislaine moved to New York where her socialite credentials were boosted by her close friendships with both Donald Trump and his ex-wife Ivana.
In 1992, the UK's Sunday Times reported that Ghislaine and Ivana were part of "a circle" that socialized together in London.
By 1997, the most revealing article of all about Donald and Ghislaine was published in the UK's Sunday Mirror, a newspaper previously owned by her father. That gossipy piece referred to Ghislaine as "Madam Maxwell," noting that she had "introduced several of her attractive friends" to property developer Donald Trump.
Ghislaine was dubbed "Madam Maxwell" as far back as 1997
I've written before about Anouska De Georgiou, a British model who the Sunday Mirror introduced to the world as Donald Trump's new girlfriend in 1997 by describing the 20-year-old as "someone who likes older men."
In 2019, De Georgiou revealed she had been groomed and raped by Epstein for several years as a teenager.
On 3 August 2025, journalist Josh Marshall noted on Bluesky that the tabloid writer "calling Ghislaine 'Madam Maxwell' makes clear how widely understood all of this was."
Marshall also speculated that De Georgiou fit in that, at 20, she had "aged out" as far as Epstein was concerned.
That observation is backed up by testimony by one Epstein victim who said at Ghislaine Maxwell's 2021 trial that, starting at age 14, she had more than 100 sexual encounters with Epstein at his Florida mansion.
But, she told the court, that when she reached the age of 18, she realized she was no longer as attractive to the financier.
"He asked me if I had any younger friends, and I said no," she said.
"That's when I realized I was too old."
During the era when Epstein was committing his most vile crimes, reports indicate that Trump was such a regular visitor to the child sex trafficker's Florida mansion that he took his meals in the staff kitchen. And Michael Wolff has described Epstein showing a picture of Trump surrounded with topless girls at Epstein's Florida pool.
Trump was also such a fixture at Epstein's NY sex parties that the porter at a nearby building told a UK tabloid in 2000: "I often see Donald Trump and there are loads of models coming and going, mostly at night. It’s amazing."
"Madam Maxwell" funneled girls from Epstein to Trump
As Craig Unger wrote in Vanity Fair in 2021, multiple women "ended up being associated with both Trump and Epstein, spending part of their time living in a Trump Tower condo and part in Florida, at Mar-a-Lago or one of Epstein’s homes."
While Epstein took credit for personally introducing some women — including Slovenian glamor model Melania Knauss — to Trump, it's clear that Ghislaine Maxwell's role went beyond "serving up" young girls into the clutches of Jeffrey Epstein.
When victims aged out from Epstein's orbit she also, as the Sunday Mirror article makes clear, acted as a broker, dangling women as prizes to Trump and other rich and powerful men in her social circle.
It seems "Madam Maxwell" would give often first pick to her second favorite client Donald Trump — resulting in several "introductions" — in exchange for continued entrée to his high-profile world.
It was a mutually beneficial arrangement that continues to this day.
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