The former president was asked about Maxwell and whether she might name names during a press conference in July 2020, shortly after her arrest by the FBI.
Quoted by The Guardian, he replied: “I don’t know—I haven’t really been following it too much. I just wish her well, frankly. I have met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach, and I guess they lived in Palm Beach. But I wish her well, whatever it is.”
Maxwell expressed her gratitude for Trump’s comments in an interview with Daphne Barak for an upcoming CBS-Paramount Plus special, saying: “We knew each other and mingled in the same circles, in New York, Palm Beach. I was very grateful when he wished me well after (the arrest). He got bad media for it, but he dared, while others didn’t.
“I was honored [Trump] remembered me. Well, he is known to say what he thinks. It gave me a big boost,” Maxwell added.
The comments by Trump, who was still in office at the time, raised eyebrows and led to speculation he might have considered pardoning her.
“Trump has a big platform and it may have made her feel better,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani, president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Newsweek. “From Trump’s perspective, the reports were that he was concerned that he would get wrapped up in this and he was asked whether he was mentioned in reports about Ghislaine Maxwell.
“She’s a name-dropper and she cares what celebrities think about her. As even she said during her interview no one wanted to have anything to do with her,” Rahmani added.
In the interview, previewed by The Sun, Maxwell said: “There are many people who have been impacted by this story. Friends of mine who never even met [Jeffrey] Epstein lost their jobs. People who literally had nothing to do with him whatsoever have been canceled.
“For all those people… I think it’s been a very heavy price that has been paid by the cancel culture. It’s been very difficult for a lot of people.”
Maxwell said she could not say everything she wanted to about individuals like Prince Andrew while her appeal was still going through the courts.
However, she added: “After the appeal, I’m going to be super-happy to address with you any of those things.”
Rahmani said the interview itself would not help Maxwell’s case and it was unclear why she had done it.
“There’s no real legal reason to do this. Her appeal is pending and she’s saying she’s actually innocent. She’s not cooperating or naming names to reduce her sentence so from a legal perspective this interview makes no sense whatsoever,” he said.
“From a PR perspective, if she thinks that this will somehow change her reputation or her image in the international community after she is a convicted sex trafficker and serving 20 years in federal prison, it’s probably too little too late.
“It’s either some sort of PR move or just her continued denial and narcissism that led her to do this. There’s no way that this is something that the lawyers would have agreed to or encouraged because it’s completely unhelpful.
“I’m sure if it was [former President Bill] Clinton and Trump’s decision their names would stay out of her mouth.”
