(MENAFN) During a visit to Scotland, US President Donald Trump on Monday provided his most detailed account yet of the breakdown in his relationship with the late Jeffrey Epstein.

He attributed their falling-out to a personal grievance, accusing Epstein of hiring away his staff without permission.

"For years, I wouldn’t talk to Jeffrey Epstein," Trump remarked to journalists during his time abroad. "I wouldn’t talk because he did something that was inappropriate. He hired (my) help, and I said: ‘Don’t ever do that again.’

He stole people that worked for me. I said: ‘Don’t ever do that again.’ He did it again. And I threw him out of the place persona non grata."

The president added, "I’m glad I did, if you want to know the truth," while speaking at one of his business-owned golf resorts.

Jeffrey Epstein, whose association with Trump had ended years earlier, was later convicted of sex trafficking. He died under controversial circumstances in a New York detention facility in 2019.

Although Trump has faced calls to declassify the full criminal dossier on Epstein, he has so far declined to do so.

This refusal has drawn criticism not only from opposition Democrats but also from within his own political base.

Trump was also questioned about the likelihood of granting clemency to Epstein’s longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a two-decade sentence for her role in the trafficking operation.

"Well, I’m allowed to give her a pardon," Trump reiterated. "But nobody’s approached me with it, nobody’s asked me about it. It’s in the news ... But right now, it would be inappropriate to talk about it."

Maxwell recently initiated two meetings with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, totaling nearly nine hours, according to media reports.

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