First Lady Melania Trump delivered a rare public address on Thursday from the White House foyer, speaking for about six minutes and directly pushing back against claims linking her to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In remarks announced just one day earlier, Trump said that allegations tying her to Epstein are false and should end immediately. She stated clearly that she is not one of his victims and that Epstein did not introduce her to President Donald Trump. According to the New York Post and other reports, the couple actually met in 1998 at a New York City party through a mutual friend.
Trump explained that while she and her husband occasionally crossed paths with Epstein at the same social events in New York and Palm Beach during the late 1990s and early 2000s, their social circles merely overlapped. She emphasized that she never had any relationship with Epstein or his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence as the only person convicted in the case. Epstein died in 2019 while awaiting trial.
She also addressed a 2002 email exchange with Maxwell that surfaced in Justice Department files released in January, calling her response a brief, polite, and casual note that should not be interpreted further.
Trump added that she had no knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activities or abuse of victims, and confirmed she was never on his plane or ever visited his private island.
In her statement, she called on Congress to hold public hearings focused on survivors, saying that victims who wish to testify under oath should be given the opportunity, with their accounts entered into the Congressional Record. She added that “Epstein was not alone.”
Her senior adviser, Marc Beckman, later said the first lady decided to speak out because “enough is enough,” and that she wanted to put an end to false claims so attention could return to her work as First Lady.
