No points for guessing: Even Bill Clinton features in Epstein’s 2003 birthday book – along with Donald Trump No points for guessing which president made it into Jeffrey Epstein’s infamous birthday book – and no, we’re not talking about the one currently threatening to sue half of Manhattan. The biggest name in the 2003 album wasn’t a future commander-in-chief with a Sharpie and a doodle, but a past one with a famously personal touch and a history of… complicated friendships.Yes, Bill Clinton – letter, handwriting, and all – is there. And unlike Donald Trump, he’s not calling it fake.
A Scrawl from a Former President
The year was 2003. Jeffrey Epstein was turning 50. Ghislaine Maxwell, not yet convicted, was orchestrating a lavish gift: a professionally bound, multi-volume birthday album filled with letters, doodles, jokes, and tributes from Epstein’s friends, fixers, and famous companions.Among the submissions—some anodyne, others vulgar—was a handwritten note from the 42nd President of the United States, William Jefferson Clinton. “It’s reassuring isn’t it, to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing, adventures and [illegible word], and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends.”The letter, reportedly written in Clinton’s unmistakable cursive, was reviewed by WSJ. Clinton’s spokesperson declined to comment on the note but pointed to previous statements that he had cut ties with Epstein “more than a decade before his 2019 arrest.” Clinton’s letter was filed under the “Friends” section—right alongside Donald Trump’s alleged contribution.
The Trump Letter He Now Calls a Fake
The Journal’s July 17 article highlighted a page attributed to Trump: a one-paragraph birthday message bearing his signature and featuring the outline of a nude woman. The former president immediately denied ever writing it, called the letter “nonexistent,” and filed a defamation lawsuit against Dow Jones, News Corp, and WSJ reporters. “The Wall Street Journal is writing yet another defamatory story about the President of the United States about an alleged letter they don’t even have,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. “The President never wrote it.”But multiple people involved in compiling the book say they remember the Trump page clearly—just as they remember the Clinton one.
The Guest List from Hell
The album was divided into categories: “Friends,” “Business,” “Science,” “Brooklyn,” and “Family.” Clinton and Trump were nestled in with names like Leon Black, the Apollo billionaire who paid Epstein $158 million; Peter Mandelson, now UK ambassador to the US, who once called Epstein “my best pal”; Alan Dershowitz, Epstein’s former lawyer, whose letter included a fake Vanity Fair cover; Leslie Wexner, Victoria’s Secret mogul, whose message came with a crude doodle; and Vera Wang, who joked about putting Epstein on The Bachelor. Other entries were outright bizarre: Microsoft exec Nathan Myhrvold submitted photos of mating lions and a zebra with visible genitals. His team later said he’s a wildlife photographer and didn’t remember the letter. The project was Maxwell’s brainchild. She solicited drawings, photos, poems, and jokes from Epstein’s network, which her assistants then digitised and handed over to a Manhattan bookbinder to create a polished, calfskin keepsake.
A Catalogue of Power and Proximity
The book is now part of Epstein’s estate, with digital copies in the hands of Justice Department officials. Victims’ lawyer Brad Edwards confirmed its existence on MSNBC: “The existence of the book is an absolute fact.”So far, only fragments of the book have entered public view—but those fragments paint a damning picture. They show a man surrounded by billionaires, celebrities, politicians, and power brokers. Some entries are crass, some affectionate, some flat-out surreal. But what unites them is proximity. Epstein wasn’t lurking in shadows. He was in the guest lists, the fundraisers, the flights—and the birthday albums.
The Presidential Problem
Trump’s legal response has focused on denial: deny the letter, deny the connection, discredit the publication. Clinton, by contrast, has remained characteristically silent—but the letter is real. It exists. And it adds yet another layer to the timeline of his relationship with Epstein, which included four flights on Epstein’s private jet, at least one visit to Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse, and a now-infamous portrait in Epstein’s home depicting Clinton in a blue dress and red heels.Clinton’s team insists all interactions were related to the Clinton Foundation and occurred with full Secret Service oversight. Trump has said he hadn’t spoken to Epstein since around 2004. But the Journal’s reporting—and the existence of the album—suggests that the rupture, if real, came after Epstein’s circle had already been firmly established.
The Takeaway
Whether or not Trump wrote the letter, and whether Clinton’s note was a relic of pre-scandal friendship, the album is a jarring time capsule—one that lays bare just how many people, powerful and famous, willingly fawned over a man who would become synonymous with sex trafficking and abuse.In the end, the book says more than its authors ever meant it to. Not just Trump. Not just Clinton. But a catalogue of complicity in calfskin leather.
