A former fashion model and one-time friend of
Jeffrey Epstein has come forward with disturbing and surreal new details about how the convicted sex offender once tried to impress
Donald Trump, by parading her and another woman into Trump Tower dressed like nurses.
Cleo Glyde, who spent time with Epstein in the 1980s and 1990s before his crimes were publicly exposed, shared her story on The Daily Beast Podcast this week. What she described was a twisted cocktail of performative power games, social climbing, and early red flags that would take on a much darker meaning in hindsight.
“He probably was showing off Donald to us, and us to Donald,” Glyde said of the encounter.
'You look like a nurse'Glyde, then just 22, said she was introduced to Epstein by a mutual friend and was initially charmed by his “enigmatic” persona.
“He was more James Bond than Darth Vader back then,” she told host Joanna Coles.
But their friendship took a strange turn when Epstein floated the idea of visiting Trump at Trump Tower—with a dress code.
“I had this white wraparound dress and he said, ‘Oh my God, you look just like a nurse,’” she recalled.
Epstein convinced Glyde and her friend—both wearing white—to accompany him to Trump Tower, calling it a hilarious stunt. Once inside, Glyde said Trump grinned and laughed at the sight, seemingly amused by Epstein’s dramatic entrance.
“Obviously, Jeffrey’s thinking, ‘I’m literally walking down Fifth Avenue with two nurses.’”
Glyde described the experience as odd but not threatening at the time—though the encounter now seems far more calculated.
Trump and Epstein: A complicated historyTrump and Epstein’s long-standing friendship is well-documented. In a 2002 New York Magazine profile, Trump said:
“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.”
The two were often photographed together, including at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, alongside Melania Trump and Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate who is now serving a 20-year prison sentence for child sex trafficking.
A pattern of disturbing behaviorGlyde is not the first woman to allege that Trump and Epstein’s interactions with women crossed deeply inappropriate lines. Former model Stacey Williams said on The Daily Beast Podcast last month that Trump groped her in front of Epstein at Trump Tower.
“[Trump was] just moving his hands up and down my body and smiling at Jeffrey—who was smiling back,” Williams said.
Glyde also described a disturbing incident aboard Epstein’s private jet. After initially treating her as a friend, she said Epstein suddenly became aggressive:
“He put his hand between my legs… started to kind of get rough,” she recalled, tearfully confronting him mid-flight. Epstein stopped—but their friendship never recovered.
She later witnessed Epstein whispering graphic things to her friend during a visit to his Manhattan townhouse.
“He dragged her behind the door… and whispered all these filthy things.”
After that, Glyde cut off all contact.
Murder or suicide?Glyde also expressed skepticism about the official conclusion that Epstein died by suicide in his jail cell in 2019.
“There is no way on God’s green Earth we’ve gotten to the bottom of all the players involved,” she said.
Theories about Epstein’s death continue to swirl, fueled by high-profile connections and unsealed documents that hint at a broader web of complicity.
The Trump response: 'A hoax'The Trump White House responded to Glyde’s claims with swift dismissal.
“This is just more stupid, fake news playing into the Democrat hoax,” a spokesperson said. “President Trump was calling for transparency, while Democrats and the media protected Epstein for years.”
This statement appears to contradict recent remarks by Speaker Mike Johnson, who alleged Friday that Trump had once been an FBI informant on Epstein—an admission that, if true, suggests a deeper involvement than previously acknowledged.
Still more to uncoverNew information about Epstein’s connections to the powerful continues to surface. Earlier this week, several of his victims demanded further transparency during a press conference. Meanwhile, a ceremonial flyover ordered by Trump reportedly drowned out victim Chauntae Davies just as she was being asked about Epstein’s “biggest brag”: his relationship with Trump.
As for Glyde, her account paints a picture of a man who was not just abusing power behind closed doors—but also performing it publicly, sometimes for the benefit of another man who would one day become President.
“It all felt like a game to them,” she said. “And we were just pieces on the board.”