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President Trump[1] is doubling down on his well-wishes for alleged child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell behind bars -- his reason ... Jeffrey Epstein[2] might've been killed in there himself.

DT sat for an interview with Axios, which just aired on HBO Monday night. They covered A LOT of topics -- but one in particular that raised eyebrows was Trump's feelings toward Maxwell, and by extension ... her longtime associate, Epstein, who died last year.

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Fox News

Check it out ... the reporter asks why Trump would send someone accused of horrible crimes his regards -- he said this last week during a press conference at the White House -- and 45 answered by suggesting she, too, could be at risk at dying while in custody.

Trump says her "boyfriend" Epstein was "either killed or committed suicide" while in jail[3], and that he wished her good luck ... further saying to let prosecutors prove she's guilty. The reporter follows up by asking if he thinks she could also die while in custody, and DT seems to confirm that's where his head's at. He says he's not wishing anything bad upon her.

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It's interesting that Trump's peddling the conspiracy theory Epstein was knocked off at the hands of others -- because that's exactly how Epstein's own camp feels about it too.

Several medical examiners retained by the family concluded three fractures in Epstein's neck were more consistent with strangulation than with hanging ... leading to the murder theory[4].

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