Then-real estate developer Donald Trump, then-girlfriend Melania Knauss, and Prince Andrew at Mar-a-Lago in Florida on February 12, 2000. Davidoff Studios/Getty Images

Donald Trump once said Prince Andrew was „a lot of fun to be with“ despite claiming on Tuesday that he doesn’t know him.

„He’s not pretentious,“ Trump told People magazine in an article published on November 20, 2000, adding „he’s a lot of fun to be with.“

Trump made the comments after attending the same Halloween party as the prince in New York. Trump and Andrew were seen speaking together, the magazine said.

Trump told reporters at the NATO summit in London on Tuesday: „I don’t know Prince Andrew, but it’s a tough story. It’s a very tough story.“

Trump was referring to allegations Prince Andrew had sex with Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who alleges she was groomed by British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell to have sex with friends of Jeffrey Epstein, which included Prince Andrew.

The prince denies the claims made by Roberts Giuffre.

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Donald Trump once branded Prince Andrew „a lot of fun to be with,“ despite claiming this week that he doesn’t know him.

Trump made the comments to People magazine after attending the same Halloween party as the royal in 2000, hosted by model Heidi Klum at Hudson Bar, New York.

„He’s not pretentious,“ Trump told Michelle Tauber for the article published on November 20, 2000. „He’s a lot of fun to be with.“

However, at a press conference in London on Tuesday Trump told Reuters: „I don’t know Prince Andrew.“

Despite the president’s claim not to know Andrew, there are numerous photos showing the two men attending functions and chatting together effusively in February 2000 and June 2018.

From left to right: President Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, and Dean of Westminster John Hall at Westminster Abbey, London, on June 3, 2019. Chris Jackson/Getty Images

According to the People article, Prince Andrew was seen chatting with Trump, and then Ghislane Maxwell, at the Halloween party.

„The teetotaling Andrew sipped bottled water and chatted with Maxwell, who wore a leopard-print jacket and platinum wig, as well as with Donald Trump and his girlfriend, model Melania Knauss,“ Tauber wrote.

Maxwell is alleged to have solicited young girls for convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his associates, which accusers say included Prince Andrew, to have sex with.

virginia giuffre prince andrew ghislaine maxwell Florida Southern District Court

One of her accusers is Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who says she was coerced into having sex with Prince Andrew three times when she was a teenager.

Prince Andrew has „categorically“ denied the claim.

„It didn’t last very long, the whole entire procedure. It was disgusting. Um, he wasn’t mean or anything, but he got up and he said, ‚thanks,‘ and walked out. And I sat there in bed just horrified and ashamed,“ Giuffre told BBC Panorama this week.