New evidence of Trump-Epstein link fans flames as controversy grows

The furore over Donald Trump's ties with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein continued yesterday as the US president's name appeared on a contributor list for a book celebrating Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003, according to reporting from the New York Times.

- Nina Lakhani Lucy Campbell

The new revelations lent further weight to reports that Trump participated in the leather-bound collection of messages, drawings and accolades - despite denying that he contributed a signed and sexually suggestive note and drawing, as reported by the Wall Street Journal this month.

Trump's name is listed among Epstein's friends and acquaintances who supplied birthday messages for the professionally bound book which reportedly had several volumes, according to the New York Times. The tome opens with a handwritten letter, also reviewed by the Times, from Epstein's longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, now serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for conspiring to sexually traffic children.

Maxwell was yesterday due to have a second meeting with the US deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, in Florida, where she is serving her term in federal prison, following an initial meeting on Thursday.

Trump was asked about Maxwell as he departed for Scotland with the shadow of the rumbling Epstein scandal hanging over the visit.