Acosta said Wednesday in a news conference that Epstein would have escaped jail time altogether had his office not been involved in the case. But he was criticized by some Democrats for not offering an apology to Epstein's victims, who didn't know about the plea deal while it was being negotiated.

“In so many ways I hate what he's saying now because we're going to miss him,” Trump said. He said he had told Acosta he didn't have to resign.

Trump also further distanced himself from Epstein, a former associate who has a home in Palm Beach, where the president's Mar-a-Lago resort is located. Trump said he had a falling-out with Epstein but declined to explain the circumstances — “the reason doesn't make any difference,” he said — and repeated that he hasn't spoken to Epstein in 15 years.

The president said he'd thrown Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago and that he had never visited Epstein's Little St. James Island in the Caribbean, a place that locals call “Pedophile Island” and “Orgy Island.”

Trump said Acosta's deputy, Patrick Pizzella, will become acting secretary of the Labor Department. Pizzella is regarded by Democrats and labor unions as more aggressively pro-business than Acosta. He previously worked with notorious lobbyist Jack Abramoff to try to shield a tiny cluster of Pacific Islands from federal labor and immigration laws.

Abramoff was the subject of one of the largest congressional lobbying scandals in recent history and was sentenced to federal prison after pleading guilty to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials.

Read more: 

• Judge: Alex Acosta broke the law by giving Jeffrey Epstein a sweetheart deal
• Health secretary Price resigns amid private jet scandal
• CDC director resigns after stock scandal

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