Fact Check: Trump Flew to Campaign Events on Private Jet Formerly Owned by Jeffrey Epstein?

Claim:

Former U.S. President Donald Trump flew to some August 2024 campaign events on a private jet formerly owned by the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Rating:

True ( About this rating? )

Context:

Trump did use a jet once owned by Epstein to fly to campaign events on the weekend of Aug. 10, 2024. However, Trump does not own the plane, which was chartered by his campaign when his private Boeing 757 developed mechanical issues in Montana. A spokesperson said it was a routine charter and the campaign had been unaware of who previously owned the plane.

On Aug. 12, 2024, an account on X supporting U.S Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election posted a picture of a blue private jet with "Trump 2024" visible on its exterior. According to the post, former President Donald Trump traveled to campaign events using the jet, which was once owned by the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in a jail cell while awaiting trial in 2019.

The claim quickly spread across social media.

Reporting from reliable news outlets like the Miami Herald , The New York Times and The Guardian helped Snopes confirm that Trump's campaign did use the jet, and that it was previously owned by Epstein.

However, important context present in those articles did not always make it into the social media posts spreading the news.

First, although Trump did fly on the aircraft, he does not own it. Trump normally flies on a privately owned Boeing 757 nicknamed " Trump Force One ." However, the plane started having mechanical issues while Trump was traveling to a rally in Bozeman, Montana, on Aug. 9, 2024, and landed in Billings, Montana, about a two-hour drive away.

A Trump campaign spokesperson told the Miami Herald that the former president took a small charter plane to Bozeman for his rally. After the rally, Trump upgraded to the blue jet, which he used to fly to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Aspen, Colorado, before finally returning to his normal 757 in Denver.

The campaign spokesperson said the blue jet was provided by a charter aircraft company the campaign has used many times, and that the campaign had no idea about the plane's previous owner.

Snopes independently reached out to the Trump campaign to confirm these details, and will update the story if we hear back.

The Miami Herald discovered that the plane's serial number matched that of a plane of the same type, the Gulfstream G550, that was registered to one of Epstein's companies in 2018. However, the Herald found that the plane that Trump chartered was not the so-called " Lolita Express " plane , which Epstein reportedly used to traffic underage girls. Epstein sold that plane in 2017 and it has since been destroyed.

Snopes has reported and fact-checked several alleged connections between Trump and Epstein in the past. However, it's important to note that there is no known evidence connecting Trump to Epstein's crimes.

Sources:

Brown, Julie K., and Ben Wieder. "Why Trump Flew to Campaign Events on Jeffrey Epstein's Plane Last Weekend." Miami Herald, 13 Aug. 2024, https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article290986070.html .

Cameron, Chris, and Michael Gold. "Trump Flew on Charter Jet Previously Owned by Jeffrey Epstein." The New York Times, 13 Aug. 2024. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/12/us/politics/trump-charter-jet-jeffrey-epstein.html .

Jackson, David. "Donald Trump Campaign Accidentally Uses an Airplane Once Owned by ... Jeffrey Epstein." USA TODAY, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/08/12/trump-campaign-jeffrey-epstein-plane/74774596007/ . Accessed 13 Aug. 2024.

Lodi, Marie. "What We Know About Jeffrey Epstein's Private Jet the 'Lolita Express.'" The Cut, 9 July 2019, https://www.thecut.com/2019/07/jeffrey-epstein-lolita-express.html .

"N550GP Flight Tracking and History." FlightAware, http://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/N550GP . Accessed 13 Aug. 2024.

Tait, Robert. "Donald Trump Used Jeffrey Epstein's Former Jet for Campaign Appearances." The Guardian, 13 Aug. 2024. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/13/trump-jeffrey-epstein-plane .

Wise, Jeff. "For a Billionaire, Trump Flies a Crappy Plane." Intelligencer, 11 June 2024, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/donald-trump-private-jet-boeing-757.html.