When Trump met Epstein: "They were best friends ... He was his bro'

Images of the partying pair with young women were largely neglected by the established media - until now

- Charlotte McDonald-Gibson

The footage captures future president Donald Trump at a party for underwear models, a hand resting gently on Jeffrey Epstein's shoulder as he whispers something unknown into his ear.

It's 1999, long before Epstein's first conviction related to sex with minors, but the fascination with the clip when it surfaced on CNN last week shows that Trump's attempts to discourage stories about his ties to the deceased paedophile are not working.

Instead, mainstream media outlets that in the past shied away from the more lurid tales about Epstein are now combing over links between the two powerful men.

"They're finally unpacking all the things that were right under people's noses all along," said Reece Peck, author of Fox Populism, which examines the growing influence of right-wing media in America.

From their gilded lives partying with the ultra-rich in Florida and Manhattan to the proliferation of beautiful young women in their orbits, a picture is emerging of Epstein and Trump as 90s buddies, a friendship founded on a shared love of wealth and women. Trump is not accused of any criminal wrongdoing linked to Epstein, but the steady stream of revelations about their friendship is keeping the story alive.