Melania Trump used a rare White House appearance Thursday to deny any ties to Jeffrey Epstein and any knowledge of his sex crimes, while calling for a congressional hearing focused on survivors of Epstein’s abuse. In a statement read in the Grand Foyer, she said she and her attorneys were responding to claims she said were false and meant to damage her reputation.
Trump’s statement did not lay out detailed rebuttals of the underlying allegations. Instead, she said the claims originated from “individuals and entities looking to cause damage to my good name,” adding that the accusers were financially and politically motivated. She also said that she was rejecting what she called “smears about me.”
In her remarks, the first lady said she and her attorneys were fighting “unfound and baseless lies” about her connections to Epstein, a convicted sex offender. She characterized the accusations as needing to “end today,” and she said the people making the claims were acting without ethical standards, humility or respect. She also said she would not object to those claimsers’ ignorance, but rather rejected what she described as “mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation.”
Trump urged Congress to hold a public hearing centered on survivors, with an opportunity for Epstein victims to testify before lawmakers and for their accounts to be entered into the congressional record. She said “Each and every woman should have her day to tell her story in public if she wishes,” and that “Then, and only then, we will have the truth.”
The statement came as Epstein had become a persistent political issue for the Trump administration, including after the administration faced scrutiny over how much of the case’s documentation was made public. The Associated Press reported that Trump’s remarks appeared likely to pull the controversy back into the political spotlight, even as the president and his administration had sought to move on from the episode.
According to a spokesperson for the first lady, the West Wing was aware beforehand that Melania Trump would make a statement, though the spokesperson did not say in advance what the content would be. The White House press office did not respond to requests for comment, the Associated Press reported.
The Associated Press reported that two of Epstein’s accusers, Maria and Annie Farmer, issued a subsequent statement that focused on “accountability, transparency, and justice.” Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, posted on X that she was grateful for what she described as the first lady’s statement about Epstein and his victims.
Democratic lawmakers also seized on the remarks. Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee investigating Epstein, called for a public hearing “immediately” in a social media post directed at the committee’s Republican chairman, Rep. James Comer. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky who has sponsored a bill prompting the release of millions of Epstein documents, turned attention to the Justice Department, saying it was up to the attorney general to bring survivors for testimony.
Trump’s statement also referenced federal documents released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The Associated Press reported that lawmakers complained when the Justice Department made only a limited release last month, while officials said more time was needed to review additional documents and avoid releasing sensitive information about victims. Melania Trump said she was not friends with Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell, but described an overlap in social circles in New York and Florida.
In describing a message exchange with Maxwell, Trump said an email reply she sent was “casual correspondence” and characterized her response as “casual” and “a trivial note.” She said her “polite reply” did not amount to more than a small message, according to the Associated Press.
The Associated Press said one document released by the Justice Department included a brief, blacked-out email from 2002 with the sender and recipient names redacted. The email, which began “Dear G!” and ended “Love, Melania,” complemented the recipient on a magazine article about “JE” and included a note about travel plans and a promise to call back when back in New York.
Trump also addressed a photograph included in the released documents. The Associated Press reported that an image from Epstein’s home showed photographs in a drawer, including a photograph of Trump together with Epstein, Melania Trump and Maxwell.
Epstein died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in New York, and Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, according to the Associated Press report.