Recently revealed statements from Jeffrey Epstein’s own testimony have placed an awkward focus on First Lady Melania Trump, with the late financier asserting he arranged her initial encounter with President Donald Trump and claiming that “the first time he slept with her was on my plane.”
The shocking assertion emerges in legal filings that constitute part of the extensive Epstein files release, which has captured media attention since the Department of Justice started releasing documents publicly pursuant to the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The disclosure introduces a profoundly intimate aspect to President Trump’s extensively examined relationship to the convicted sex criminal who took his own life in August, 2019.
First Lady Melania Trump vigorously rejected the assertions in an unusual public declaration Thursday 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 prior to 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 detour to Atlantic City, with Epstein informing her he would “call up Trump” to visit one of his casinos. The filings contain no accusations of misconduct by President Trump, and Sjoberg indicated 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 filings show the FBI pursued a comprehensive inquiry following Epstein’s 2019 arrest, but eventually discovered minimal proof 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 locations 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 dispute 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 high-profile 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 released a forcefully phrased declaration in February, 2026, describing the Epstein files as “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 cautioned against progressing too rapidly 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 required 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 spheres 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 White House has not responded to requests for comment regarding Epstein’s claims about the First Lady beyond her public statement Thursday.
