The $US41 million mansion that broke up Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein

Donald Trump and disgraced billionaire Jeffrey Epstein were believed to be good mates for many years. Here’s what drove them apart.

A battle over a multimillion-dollar estate led to the downfall of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein’s budding friendship.

Since Epstein’s arrest last month, the question has been raised of just how close he was to the President in previous decades.

Mr Trump distanced himself from the disgraced billionaire, saying he “was not a fan” of him, but pictures have since emerged of the pair looking friendly together in the 1990s.

In 1992, Mr Trump directed Florida businessman George Houraney to organise a “calendar girl” competition at Mar-a-Lago. After 28 female contestants were procured, he revealed that the other guests were just “him and Epstein”, the New York Times reported.

Then, in a much-quoted 2002 New York Magazine interview, Mr Trump described Epstein as a “terrific guy” and even acknowledged that he liked women “on the younger side”.

“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side,” he told the magazine.

Donald and Melania Trump pictured with Jeffrey Epstein and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.

But the friendship ended in 2004 after the $US41 million mansion of nursing home magnate Abe Gosman came on the market.

According to The Washington Post, both Mr Trump and Epstein wanted the $41 million six-acre oceanfront estate for themselves.

Joseph Luzinski, who was the property’s trustee, told the Post both men would start talking behind each other’s back about each other.

“It was something like, Donald saying, ‘You don’t want to do a deal with him, he doesn’t have the money,’ while Epstein was saying: ‘Donald is all talk. He doesn’t have the money,’ “ Luzinski said. “They both really wanted it.”

Mr Trump eventually purchased the property at an auction in November 2004, paying $US41.35 million. Four years later, he sold it to a Russian businessman named Dmitry Rybolovlev for $US95 million.

Less than two weeks later, Palm Beach police received a tip-off about young women seen entering and leaving Epstein’s home, which sparked an investigation.

Epstein was jailed for 13 months in 2005, following a complaint from a woman who alleged her 14-year-old stepdaughter had been paid $US300 to strip and massage the billionaire.

Mr Trump eventually banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago, although it’s unclear whether this was before or after Florida police began investigating the financier.

Epstein was charged with child sex trafficking and conspiracy last month.

Last month, Epstein was charged with child sex trafficking and conspiracy.

Epstein pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and conspiracy charges, including accusations of abusing dozens of underage girls as young as 14. If convicted, he faces up to 45 years in prison.

Prosecutors later alleged the federal police found “perhaps thousands” of photos of nude and near-nude females, including at least one underage girl, when agents broke into Epstein’s seven-storey $US77 million ($A110 million) townhouse in Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

He appeared in a New York court yesterday for the first time since he was found unconscious in a Manhattan jail cell with injuries to his neck in what was described as a suspected suicide attempt.

The billionaire was recently denied bail on the grounds that he posed a danger to the community and there was a high risk he would use his wealth to flee.

He appealed the decision, asking the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the rejection of his request to remain under house arrest in his Manhattan mansion.

If you or anyone you know needs help, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.