Jeffrey Epstein had a way of ensnaring the rich and famous -- even presidents -- into his orbit, and 2 of his prized catches were Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, and he wasn't shy about trashing them.

In the days before Epstein died at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan, he was shooting the s*** with fellow prisoner William Mersey, who is now free and an accomplished writer and journalist. Mersey says he asked Epstein if he had an anecdote that was "emblematic of Donald Trump's essence."

Well, Epstein lit up and began telling a wild story involving a private jet, a French woman and Atlantic City. You gotta watch the clip.

Then Epstein unprompted pivoted to a sordid Bill Clinton story.

The way Epstein was able to amass Trump, Clinton and scores of other rich, famous people is unbelievable. Watch the full documentary we produced exclusively for YouTube -- "TMZ Studios Presents Jeffrey Epstein: The Devil's Rolodex."

BTW ... we reached out to The White House for comment, and a spokesperson responded Trump kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago because he was a creep. We also reached out to Clinton's people but they did not respond.