The first lady, Melania Trump, shared remarks within the Grand Foyer of the White House located in Washington on April 9, 2026.Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
On Thursday, First Lady Melania Trump refuted possessing any awareness of the misdeeds perpetrated by the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, stating, "The falsehoods connecting me to the scandalous Jeffrey Epstein must cease immediately."
The first lady’s team and the Executive Office of the President did not promptly give a response to ABC News when queried regarding the catalyst for her choice to address the matter publicly.
President Donald Trump expressed a lack of knowledge regarding the first lady’s intention to issue a statement concerning Epstein on this day, as mentioned by a reporter from MS Now who conducted a succinct phone discussion with the president.
Upon being questioned by ABC News for further explanation, a representative for the first lady guided all inquiries regarding President Trump’s understanding of her statement to the West Wing, which specified that any questions pertaining to the declaration should originate from her office.
ABC News has approached the White House to determine whether the president aligns with the first lady in believing that Epstein’s victims should provide testimony before Congress, but as of now, no response has been provided.
The first lady, Melania Trump, shared remarks within the Grand Foyer of the White House located in Washington on April 9, 2026.Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
At the inception of her speech, Melania Trump stated, "Those disseminating untruths about me are lacking in moral principles, compassion, and respect." She did not elaborate on the identities of these individuals.
She proceeded to articulate that she never maintained a rapport with Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell, the co-conspirator of Epstein who received a conviction for sex trafficking.
"I never had any form of association with Epstein or his collaborator, Maxwell. My electronic mail response to Maxwell is nothing more than incidental communication. My courteous reply to her electronic message is simply an inconsequential note," she asserted.
"I am not an individual harmed by Epstein. Epstein was not the person who introduced me to Donald Trump. I encountered my spouse serendipitously during a gathering in New York City in 1998. This initial meeting with my husband is carefully chronicled in my book entitled 'Melania,'" she supplemented.
"The initial occasion I encountered Epstein occurred in the year 2000 at an event that Donald and myself were present at collectively. At that juncture, I had no prior acquaintance with Epstein and was uninformed of his unlawful ventures," she articulated.
The first lady expressed that fraudulent visuals and narratives concerning herself and Epstein have been in circulation for a number of years, which prompted her to address and refute these allegations.
"Exercise caution regarding what you accept as fact," she advised. "These visuals and narratives are entirely devoid of truth."
The first lady also communicated that she had never been legally charged with any offenses in conjunction with Epstein and that she is not referenced in any records, depositions, or accounts from harmed individuals pertaining to Epstein.
Real estate magnate Donald Trump and his romantic partner, Melania Knauss, financier Jeffrey Epstein, and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell are pictured at the Mar-a-Lago club, located in Palm Beach, Florida, February 12, 2000.Davidoff Studios Photography/Getty Images
"I have never been legally accused or found guilty of any wrongdoing associated with Epstein," she affirmed.
Melania Trump mentioned that various individuals and organizations have been compelled to retract assertions regarding her and Epstein.
The first lady advocated for open hearings regarding the Epstein controversy, allowing survivors to offer testimony before the legislative body.
"Now is the juncture for Congress to take action. Epstein did not operate alone. Numerous influential male executives relinquished their commanding roles subsequent to this situation gaining widespread politicization. Although this does not equate to culpability, it remains imperative for us to operate with transparency and openness to ascertain the actuality," she articulated.
"Grant these injured parties the opportunity to deliver testimony under oath before Congress with the authority of sworn declaration; each and every woman is entitled to an occasion to publicly share her account, should she desire, and consequently, her declaration ought to be permanently registered within the Congressional Record," she asserted. "Subsequently, and exclusively then, we will attain the genuine facts.
Later that same day, a contingent consisting of 13 Epstein survivors and the sibling of another levied accusations against the first lady, alleging that she was “transferring the encumbrance onto survivors,” rather than pushing for responsibility.
“Those who survived Jeffrey Epstein have already displayed extraordinary valor by stepping forward with formal reports and proffering declarations. To ask more of them at this juncture signifies a diversion of accountability instead of rectitude,” they stated. “First Lady Melania Trump is currently relocating the responsibility to the survivors under circumstances tinged with political bias that afford protection to those wielding authority: including the Department of Justice, regulatory agencies, prosecutors, and the Trump Administration, which remains noncompliant with the Epstein Files Transparency Act in its totality.”
The formal statement also conveyed that Melania Trump’s discourse “detracts focus from [former Attorney General] Pam Bondi, who must respond concerning unreleased records and the divulgence of survivors’ identities.”
“The survivors have satisfied their portion of the obligation. It is now incumbent upon those who possess authority to fulfill theirs,” they indicated.
During the month of February, Representative Robert Garcia, the principal Democrat situated on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, signaled on the CNN platform that President Donald Trump and Melania Trump would be issued subpoenas mandating their deposition before the committee regarding their interconnections with Epstein, contingent on the Democrats securing a majority in the forthcoming November elections — mirroring the procedural approach employed with former President Bill Clinton and former first lady Hillary Clinton. The Clintons provided testimony before the Oversight Committee in February.
When questioned directly on whether the committee would involve Melania Trump, Garcia remarked: "We are going to generate a substantial list of individuals, encompassing anyone whom we deduce to have had a connection with Jeffrey Epstein — will be served a subpoena from our committee on the first day."
Subsequent to the first lady’s announcement on Thursday, Garcia reiterated the appeal for a publicly accessible hearing.
"We concur with the call by First Lady Melania Trump for an open hearing with individuals who survived Jeffrey Epstein. We encourage Chairman [James] Comer to respond affirmatively to the First Lady’s petition and immediately arrange for a public hearing," he announced in a publication on the X platform.
Oversight Democrats have a "shadow" hearing arranged for May featuring Epstein survivors in Palm Beach, Florida, which is the locality of the president’s Mar-a-Lago establishment.
James Hill, Peter Charalambous, and Nadine Shubailat from ABC News contributed insights to this report.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com