First Lady Melania Trump issued a forceful denial on April 9 from the White House after court documents revealed Jeffrey Epstein claimed he introduced her to President Donald Trump and boasted that “the first time he slept with her was on my plane.”
“Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump,” the first lady declared in a rare public statement on April 9. She said she first met her husband at a New York City party in 1998—two years before she ever crossed paths with Epstein. She also insisted she had never been on Epstein’s plane or visited his private island. The statement caught even the White House off guard — President Trump later told reporters he had not known about it before she delivered it. Her senior adviser said she spoke out because “enough is enough.” “These images and stories are completely false,” she said.
The files also revealed a friendly email exchange between Melania and Maxwell, in which the first lady signed off “Love, Melania” and Maxwell responded, calling her “sweet pea.” Melania addressed the emails in her statement, insisting they “cannot be categorized as anything more than casual correspondence.” She also called on Congress to hold public hearings for Epstein survivors, urging that each victim be allowed to testify under oath with her testimony permanently entered into the Congressional Record.
The claim from the deceased financier appears in court documents that are part of the massive Epstein files release, which has dominated headlines since the Department of Justice began making materials public under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The law was signed on Nov. 19, 2025, with the Justice Department releasing an initial batch on Dec. 19, 2025, followed by over three million additional pages on Jan. 30, 2026.
The revelation adds a deeply personal dimension to President Trump’s long-scrutinized connection to the convicted sex offender who died by suicide in August 2019. President Trump publicly distanced himself from Epstein following 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. However, the president had previously described Epstein as a “terrific guy” who enjoyed the company of beautiful women “on the younger side.”
Johanna Sjoberg, one of Epstein’s victims, provided testimony describing social encounters that included President Trump during the early 2000s. Sjoberg recalled how Epstein’s plane made an unplanned diversion to Atlantic City, with Epstein telling her he would “call up Trump” to visit one of his casinos. The documents contain no allegations of wrongdoing by President Trump, and Sjoberg stated she never gave him a massage.
Epstein accumulated his wealth as a financier and moved in elite social circles that included 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 case began 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.
After Epstein’s 2019 arrest, the FBI conducted an extensive investigation but ultimately found scant evidence that the financier led a sex trafficking ring serving powerful men. Federal agents recovered approximately 2,000 videos and 180,000 images from Epstein’s properties in New York, Palm Beach, and the Virgin Islands, but prosecutors noted that no videos or photos showed victims being sexually abused or implicated anyone else besides Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
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.”
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.
Former Attorney General Pam Bondi sparked controversy early in her tenure by claiming an Epstein “client list” was “sitting on my desk right now” during a Fox News appearance. The FBI later clarified that no such list existed. Trump fired Bondi on April 2, 2026, citing frustration over her handling of the Epstein files, among other issues.
The House Oversight Committee had subpoenaed Bondi in a bipartisan vote to testify under oath on April 14, but the DOJ informed the panel she would not appear, arguing she had been subpoenaed in her official capacity as attorney general, a role she no longer holds. Rep. Nancy Mace pushed back, arguing the subpoena was issued to Bondi by name, not by title, and that she remained legally obligated to testify. Ranking Democrat Rep. Robert Garcia of California threatened contempt of Congress charges if she failed to comply. House Oversight Chairman James Comer said the committee would contact Bondi’s personal attorney to schedule a new deposition date.
Other prominent figures named 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. Separately, lawmakers confirmed that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates will testify before the committee about his relationship with Epstein at a hearing scheduled for June 10, 2026. A spokesperson for Gates said he “welcomes the opportunity to appear.”
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.
“Any suggestion that it is time to move on from the ‘Epstein files’ is unacceptable,” the experts warned. “No one is too wealthy or too powerful to be above the law.”