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By Dan Gooding and Gabe Whisnant
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President Donald Trump said that he didn't "know anything about" first lady Melania Trump's Thursday afternoon speech at the White House denying any links to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“She didn’t know him (Epstein),” the president told MS NOW's Jacqueline Alemany, who reported on X that he was in a meeting about the Iran war and couldn’t speak further.
But a spokesperson for Melania Trump told The New York Times that the "president was aware that his wife was going to make a statement."
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Newsweek has reached out to the White House via email on Thursday evening for comment.
Why It Matters
As President Trump has sought to distance himself from the Epstein saga, the messages from him and the first lady about knowledge of the press briefing has exacerbated issues over clarity within the Trump administration. They arrived in the hour after Melania Trump took to the podium at the White House in front of a group of reporters expecting her to speak on artificial intelligence.
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What To Know
After promising transparency on the 2024 election campaign trail, President Trump's Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI said during the summer that all documents that could be released on the abuse inflicted by Epstein—the disgraced financier who was found dead in 2019 in a New York City jail cell while awaiting his sex trafficking trial—had been made public, and that nothing more was coming. That sparked pushback from within Trump's Republican Party, as well as from Democrats and survivors of Epstein's abuse. In recent weeks, focus has shifted from the tumult over releasing the files to the war in Iran, launched by the U.S. and Israel.
A source told CNN that the president did get a heads-up before the first lady's Thursday briefing, similar to the messaging from her office.
Earlier, Mrs. Trump read what aides called an extraordinary statement. She said she was never associated with Epstein and emphasized that legal action has already been taken to counter such claims.
While some speculation has circulated online for some time about the first lady's connection to Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, it was not immediately clear why she had chosen to speak Thursday when the Trump administration has largely moved on from the issue.
Is Melania Trump in the Epstein Files?
Among the records released by the DOJ was a brief email dated 2002, with the sender and recipient’s names redacted. The message begins, “Dear G!” and ends, “Love, Melania,” and praises the recipient, largely believed to be Maxwell, for a magazine article about “JE.” The email reads in part, “I know you are very busy flying all over the world. How was Palm Beach? I cannot wait to go down. Give me a call when you are back in NY.”
The email was sent the same month New York Magazine published a profile of Epstein in which Donald Trump described the financier as a “terrific guy.” Other documents released by the department included an image taken inside Epstein’s home showing framed photographs arranged along a credenza and inside desk drawers. In one drawer, among several photographs, was an image showing Trump with Epstein, Melania Trump and Maxwell.
In recent years, document releases and online speculation have fueled broad claims about high‑profile figures, but legal experts and fact‑checking organizations have cautioned that social proximity or unverified references do not establish wrongdoing. To date, no court has found any link between Melania Trump and Epstein’s criminal activities.
Has Melania Trump Been Photographed With Jeffrey Epstein?
A legitimate photograph exists showing Donald Trump, Melania Trump (then Melania Knauss), Epstein and Maxwell together at a party at Mar-a-Lago in 2000.
What Is the Epstein Files Transparency Act?
After the DOJ during the summer said it would not publish more files, a bipartisan effort in Congress saw the Epstein Files Transparency Act form, passing in the fall. It set a mandate for the DOJ to release all available documents related to Epstein investigations by December 19, 2025.
That deadline was missed, prompting further scrutiny. Millions of documents, many heavily redacted, have since been released.
What People Are Saying
Representative Nancy Mace, South Carolina Republican, on X: "Thank you to our First Lady for being a voice for victims across the country. From her work on the Take It Down Act to publicly standing for the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and calling for action and the truth. The truth will prevail. America is strong when strong women stand up for what is right."
Gabe Fleisher, who runs X account Wake Up 2 Politics: "I’m so confused by this. Who at the White House thought it was a good idea to resurrect the Epstein story right now? Or did FLOTUS just want to say this, and no one could overrule her? Was anybody talking about Epstein and Melania in the last few days before this? Is this an attempt to prebut a story that’s about to come out?"
What Happens Next
The first lady called for a congressional hearing into the Epstein saga and said she wanted each victim to have a chance to tell their story.
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