On April 9, local time, Melania Trump, the first lady of the United States, walked into the lobby of the White House "menacingly". With an expressionless face, she was preparing to issue a statement to protect her reputation and directly respond to the rumors of connection caused by the documents related to Jeffrey Epstein that have been declassified in recent years. This public statement was a rare initiative by Melania, which quickly became the focus of global media.
The 55-year-old Melania wore a gray Prada dress with dark red snakeskin pattern Christian Louboutin high heels. She stood in front of the podium in a simple and neat look, and she also looked quite aura.
Melania made it clear in her statement: "I never had anything to do with Epstein. I was never his friend. I was not a victim of Epstein."
She further pointed out, "Epstein did not introduce me to Trump. I met my husband by chance at a party in New York in 1998." Regarding the email exchanges with Ghislaine Maxwell mentioned in the document, she said those were just "polite, trivial notes" and not a deep friendship. She stressed that all claims linking her to Epstein were "totally false," calling them a "despicable smear campaign" and "political attacks" and demanding "these lies must end today."
In addition, Melania also insisted that she had "never participated in any activities related to Epstein" and had "never boarded his plane or been to his private island."
The direct background of this statement is the large number of Epstein documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice from January to February this year. The documents include old photos, social records and some testimonies from the late 1990s to early 2000s.
Part of the content shows that Melania appeared at parties together when her husband, Epstein, and Maxwell belonged to the same upper-class social circles in New York and Palm Beach. In addition, a 2002 email record shows that Melania mentioned a magazine report about Epstein in her reply to Maxwell and expressed her desire to go to Palm Beach. In another 2019 FBI interview record (released in 2026), a former assistant claimed that "Epstein introduced Melania to Trump."
Melania's public statement immediately attracted attention. Some observers believe that Melania's rare public statement reflects her tendency to more actively protect her personal image in her second term; other voices point out that the first lady chose to speak out at this time against the backdrop of the continued disclosure of Epstein's files, which will help clarify long-standing speculation.
There have been no new legal charges or subsequent investigations against Melania herself, and there is no evidence in any public documents that she was involved in any criminal activity.
Melania’s statement also once again drew public attention back to the complex history of the Epstein case. Epstein died in prison after being arrested in 2019. During his lifetime, he had interactions with many powerful people through social networks.
Melania emphasized that she and Trump were introduced to each other in 1998 by modeling agent Paolo Zampoli (pictured), which is consistent with the Trumps' long-standing public statements.
