OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
8:05 PM – Thursday, February 19, 2026
President Donald Trump expressed sympathy for the British royal family following the arrest of ex-Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor over his ties to the late pedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, calling the fiasco “a shame” and “very sad.”
A reporter asked Trump about Andrew’s arrest on Thursday while on board Air Force One after his Board of Peace meeting.
“I think it’s a shame,” Trump responded. “I think it’s very sad. I think it’s so bad for the royal family.”
President Trump weighs in on the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public office:
— Julia 🇺🇸 (@Jules31415) February 19, 2026
"I think it's a shame. I think it's very sad, I think it's so bad for the royal family...to me, it's a very sad thing." pic.twitter.com/4LM2np5H3Y
Trump praised Andrew’s older brother, King Charles III, while also noting the “fantastic man”’s upcoming visit to the United States this spring for the country’s Semiquincentennial celebration.
The king released a statement signaling his family’s willingness to comply with law enforcement throughout the investigation of his disgraced brother, noting that “the law must take its course.”
He was also responsible for stripping Andrew’s titles, including “his royal highness,” “Duke of York” and “Prince,” last year.
Trump remarked that he was an “expert” in the area of arresting former friends of the convicted sex offender because he was “totally exonerated” in the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s release of thousands of files related to Epstein.
“I’m the one that can talk about it because I’ve been totally exonerated. I did nothing,” Trump asserted. “In fact, the opposite — he was against me.”
Andrew was taken into custody on Thursday from his home at Sandringham House, where he moved last month after his eviction from Windsor, on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his sharing of classified documents with Epstein.
He was later photographed in a car leaving the police station, though the investigation is ongoing.
Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein and Andrew’s alleged victims, wrote in her memoir that the late financier and Ghislaine Maxwell trafficked her to the then-prince, who then sexually abused her as a teenager. The former prince has denied wrongdoing.
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