The president said the arrest of former Prince Andrew because of his connections to Jeffrey Epstein was “a shame” and was very sad for the British royal family.
President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Thursday that he felt bad about what happened to the exiled royal.
“I think it’s a shame. I think it’s very sad,” Trump said. “I think it’s so bad for the royal family. It’s very, very sad.”
His comments came after the former prince, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was arrested on his birthday on suspicion of misbehaving in his job.
The arrest is linked to his past communications with Epstein when he was a trade envoy.
After being asked if Americans might soon be arrested for their links to the late sex trafficker, Trump made a strange comment and said he was an expert on the topic.
“You know I’m the expert in a way because I’ve been totally exonerated.
It’s very nice. I can actually speak about it very nicely,” the 79-year-old told reporters.
Andrew, the younger brother of King Charles III, has faced years of questions because of his relationship with Epstein, who was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges and later died in jail.
Epstein’s most well-known victim, Virginia Giuffre, accused the then-Duke of sexual abuse when she was a teenager.
He always denied the accusations, but in 2022, he reached a private agreement with Giuffre, who was recruited as a teenager by Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell after they met at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
Things got worse on Thursday when the former Prince was taken into custody at his home.
The arrest was unexpected and unusual in England, where royal family members are generally seen as above the law.
Police vehicles arrived at his home early in the morning, and officers stayed for several hours as they handled the legal papers and set up security.
King Charles took an unusual step by making a public statement about his brother’s arrest, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
“Let me state clearly: the law must take its course,” the king said.
“As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter.”
The Thames Valley Police force said Mountbatten-Windsor was released on Thursday evening, around 11 hours after he was detained at his home in eastern England.
When asked about the situation, Trump also praised the King, who will visit the US this summer for the country’s 250th birthday event, and described him as a “fantastic man.”
The president has often claimed the files are a “hoax.”
Trump is mentioned more than a million times in the latest set of documents, according to Democrat Jamie Raskin, who saw unredacted versions earlier this month.
Among the mentions of the president are unconfirmed FBI tips accusing him of sexual assault, as well as new links to Epstein and Maxwell, and emails between Epstein and his associates that reference the president.
However, Trump has always denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein and is now threatening to sue people over the files, including author Michael Wolff.
“I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein… Frankly the DOJ should just say ‘we have other things to do’,” Trump said earlier this month.
Survivors, on the other hand, have criticized the department for withholding so much information, and for revealing details while the names of some possible predators remained redacted.
In one filing, for example, one of Epstein’s victims told the FBI how Ghislaine Maxwell tried to sell her to Donald Trump and his friends, making it clear that she was “available” for them.
But the names of the men involved in the victim’s story, except for the president’s, remained redacted.
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