WASHINGTON — Sworn deposition video released by the House Oversight Committee shows former President Bill Clinton recounting that President Donald Trump once told him he and Jeffrey Epstein had “some great times together,” March 2, 2026.
Clinton said Trump brought up Epstein during a brief conversation at a charity golf tournament in the early 2000s, describing a friendship that later ended “all because of a real estate deal,” according to the testimony.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said in a press release announcing the videos that it published the Clintons’ deposition footage Monday after questioning Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton under oath Feb. 26 and Feb. 27, respectively.
Trump Epstein quote: what Clinton said under oath
In the newly public video, Clinton described Trump raising the subject after learning Clinton had traveled on Epstein’s aircraft. Clinton recalled Trump saying:
“You know, we had some great times together over the years, but we fell out all because of a real estate deal.”
Clinton said Trump did not spell out what he meant by “great times,” and Clinton told lawmakers he did not interpret the comment as sexual in nature. An ABC News report also noted Clinton said Trump added he was “sorry it happened,” and that the exchange lasted only a couple of minutes.
Clinton further said the brief interaction did not leave him believing Trump had been involved in wrongdoing connected to Epstein. Reuters reported the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The deposition disclosure lands amid renewed scrutiny of Epstein’s relationships with prominent figures. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl and later died in jail in 2019 while facing federal sex-trafficking charges.
Trump has offered a different public explanation for the rupture, saying he cut ties after Epstein hired young women who worked at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club. The Associated Press reported that Democrats on the committee have pointed to shifting accounts about why the relationship ended, while Republicans have emphasized Clinton’s statement that he had no information Trump did anything wrong.
How the quote fits the longer Trump-Epstein timeline
The resurfaced deposition clip adds a sworn, first-person account to a timeline that has been pieced together for years through interviews, social records and court filings.
In a 2002 profile of Epstein, Trump was quoted praising him as a friend and social companion. The line appears in a New York magazine article from the archives that has been repeatedly revisited as investigators and journalists mapped Epstein’s circle.
Separately, reporting during Epstein’s 2019 arrest described a potential breaking point between the two men: competition over a high-end Palm Beach property. A 2019 Washington Post account of the Palm Beach mansion bidding war reported that the rivalry centered on an oceanfront estate that went to auction during a bankruptcy case — a storyline that echoes Clinton’s under-oath recollection that Trump blamed a “real estate deal” for the fallout.
What happens next
The Oversight Committee’s investigation has focused on what federal authorities did — and did not do — as Epstein built influence and, prosecutors say, ran a long-running abuse and trafficking operation. In their depositions, both Clintons denied knowledge of Epstein’s criminal conduct during their limited interactions with him and said they ended contact years before Epstein’s 2008 conviction.
Even with hours of testimony now public, the political fight over the Epstein record is likely to intensify as lawmakers press for additional witnesses and more document disclosures. For now, Clinton’s account has put a single phrase — “great times” — at the center of the latest round of questions about who knew Epstein, when they knew him, and how they describe those ties in hindsight.
