Recently emerged testimony containing Jeffrey Epstein’s direct statements has placed First Lady Melania Trump under an unwelcome focus, as the late financier asserted he arranged her initial encounter with President Donald Trump and bragged that “the first time he slept with her was on my plane.”
The shocking assertion surfaces in legal documents that constitute a portion of the extensive Epstein files release, which has commanded media attention since the Department of Justice started releasing records to the public pursuant to the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The disclosure introduces a profoundly personal element to President Trump’s extensively examined relationship with the disgraced sex offender who took his own life in August, 2019.
First Lady Melania Trump vigorously rejected the assertions in an uncommon public declaration Thursday, April 9, issued from the White House. “Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump,” she stated, noting that her initial encounter with her husband occurred at a New York City party in 1998—two years before any interaction with Epstein. She further maintained she had never boarded Epstein’s aircraft or set foot on his private island. “These images and stories are completely false,” she said.
Statements from Johanna Sjoberg, one of Epstein’s victims, detail social interactions that involved President Trump during the early 2000s. Sjoberg recounted how Epstein’s aircraft made an unexpected stop in Atlantic City, with Epstein informing her he would “call up Trump” to tour one of his casinos. The records include no accusations of misconduct by President Trump, and Sjoberg affirmed she never provided him a massage.
President Trump publicly separated himself from Epstein since the financier’s arrest in July, 2019. “I don’t think I’ve spoken to him for 15 years. I was not a fan of his,” Trump said at the time. Nevertheless, the president had earlier characterized Epstein as a “terrific guy” who enjoyed the company of beautiful women “on the younger side.”
The records disclose the FBI pursued a comprehensive investigation following Epstein’s 2019 arrest, but ultimately discovered minimal evidence that the financier operated a sex trafficking ring catering to influential men. Federal agents seized roughly 2,000 videos and 180,000 images from Epstein’s residences in New York, Palm Beach, and the Virgin Islands, but prosecutors observed that no videos or photos depicted victims undergoing sexual abuse or incriminated anyone else apart from Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Former Attorney General Pam Bondi generated controversy early in her term by asserting an Epstein “client list” was “sitting on my desk right now” during a Fox News appearance. The FBI subsequently explained that no such list existed. Trump fired Bondi on April 2, 2026, with sources citing frustration over her handling of the Epstein files among other issues.
Federal agents told prosecutors in an email that “four or five” Epstein accusers claimed other men or women had sexually abused them, but there “was not enough evidence to federally charge these individuals.”
The case commenced in 2005 when the parents of a 14-year-old girl reported she had been molested at Epstein’s Palm Beach home. Then-Miami U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta negotiated a controversial plea deal allowing Epstein to serve just 18 months in jail on state charges of soliciting prostitution from an underage girl.
Other well-known individuals identified in the document release include former President Bill Clinton and former Prince Andrew. Sjoberg testified that Epstein told her Clinton “likes them young, referring to girls.” Prince Andrew faces allegations he touched Sjoberg’s breast during a 2001 encounter at Epstein’s New York home. The prince settled a lawsuit with accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre in 2022 for an undisclosed sum.
Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime confidant who recruited several of his victims, was convicted in 2021 and is serving a 20-year prison sentence for child sex trafficking.
UN independent human rights experts issued a strongly worded statement in February, 2026, calling the Epstein files “disturbing and credible evidence” of possible crimes against humanity. “So grave is the scale, nature, systematic character, and transnational reach of these atrocities against women and girls, that a number of them may reasonably meet the legal threshold of crimes against humanity,” the experts stated.
The experts warned against moving on too quickly from the scandal. “Any suggestion that it is time to move on from the ‘Epstein files’ is unacceptable,” they said. “No one is too wealthy or too powerful to be above the law.”
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, which mandated the public release of government materials related to the case, was signed into law on November 19, 2025. The Justice Department released an initial batch on December 19, 2025, followed by over three million additional pages on January 30, 2026.
Epstein amassed his fortune as a financier and circulated in exclusive social networks that encompassed politicians, academics, and celebrities. Federal prosecutors said Epstein paid victims, some as young as 14, hundreds of dollars to provide sexual services and recruit other young girls.
The White House has not responded to requests for comment regarding Epstein’s claims about the First Lady beyond her public statement Thursday.
