US President Donald Trump says he “never had the privilege” of visiting Jeffrey Epstein’s island, saying he turned down an invitation from the convicted sex offender in one of his “very good moments”.

Trump’s remarks on Monday (British time) were his latest effort to distance himself from the political furore over his administration’s handling of files related to Epstein’s case and renewed questions over his past relationship with the disgraced financier, who died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019.

“I never had the privilege of going to his island, and I did turn it down,” Trump said during his trip to Scotland.

“In one of my very good moments, I turned it down.”

Epstein owned a private island in the US Virgin Islands where he entertained prominent people from politics, business and entertainment. Prosecutors have alleged he used the compound to conceal the sex trafficking and abuse of under-age victims.

Trump, who socialised with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s, also offered new insight into why their relationship ended.

He said he cut ties after Epstein attempted to recruit staff who worked for Trump.

“He hired help. And I said, ‘don’t ever do that again’. He stole people that work for me,” Trump said.

“He did it again. And I threw him out of the place persona non grata.”

Last week, White House communications director Steven Cheung said Trump had cut ties with Epstein because he regarded him as a “creep”.

The White House has been under growing pressure from Trump’s supporters and political opponents to release more information about the Justice Department’s investigation into Epstein.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this year promised to release additional materials related to possible Epstein clients and the circumstances surrounding his death. But earlier this month, the Justice Department reversed course and issued a memo concluding there was no basis to continue investigating and no evidence of a client list.

Those findings sparked an angry outcry from some of Trump’s supporters who have long believed the government was covering up Epstein’s ties to the rich and powerful.

Trump’s efforts to deflect attention from the case have so far faltered. On Monday, he again called the story a hoax.

“It’s a hoax that’s been built up way beyond proportion,” he said, saying Democrats controlled the Epstein files for years and would have used them against him during the last presidential election if there was anything in them.

Trump flew with Epstein aboard his plane at least six times, according to logs for flights spanning from 1991 to 2005. None of those trips were to Epstein’s private island.

Trump has denied ever being on the plane and has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Maxwell completes interviews

In other developments, jailed British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend, has finished 1½ days of interviews with US Justice Department officials.

“She answered those questions honestly, truthfully, to the best of her ability,” her lawyer David Oscar Markus said outside the federal courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida, where Maxwell met on Friday with Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche.

“She never invoked a privilege. She never refused to answer a question, so we’re very proud of her.”

Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence and is housed at a low-security federal prison in Tallahassee.

She was sentenced three years ago after being convicted of helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.

Last week, Blanche said Maxwell would be interviewed because of Trump’s directive to gather and release any credible evidence about others who may have committed crimes.

Markus said Maxwell “was asked maybe about 100 different people”.

“The deputy attorney-general is seeking the truth,” he said.

“He asked every possible question, and he was doing an amazing job.”

Markus said he asked for nothing for Maxwell in return, though he acknowledged that Trump could pardon her.

“The President this morning said he had the power to do so. We hope he exercises that power in the right and just way,” Markus said.

Maxwell is appealing her conviction, based on the government’s pledge years ago that any potential Epstein co-conspirators would not be charged, Markus said.

-with AAP