Epstein "Knew" Melania Well, Trump's Biographer Alleges Link Between Two

Long before she became the first lady, Melania Knauss - name before marriage -  was "very involved" in convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's social circle, and that is how she was introduced to Donald Trump, a longtime biographer of the 47th US President has claimed.

"She's introduced by a model agent, both of whom Trump and Epstein are involved with. She's introduced to Trump that way. Epstein [knew] her well," Michael Wolff said in an interview with The Daily Beast podcast host Joanna Coles. Melania was part of the same modelling and social circles frequented by both Trump and Epstein, he added.

In tapes Wolff claims to have recorded, Epstein allegedly said Trump liked to "f***" his friends' wives and first slept with Melania aboard his private jet, nicknamed the 'Lolita Express.'

"Where does [Melania] fit into the Epstein story? Where does she fit into this, into this whole culture of models of indeterminate age?" Wolff asked. "So this is another complicated dimension in this."

Wolff also pointed to Melania's 1998 introduction to Trump through Paolo Zampolli, founder of ID Models, who had ties to both Epstein and his partner Ghislaine Maxwell. Zampolli, who played a key role in helping Melania emigrate to the US, currently serves as Trump's special representative for global partnerships.

Melania Trump has denied Epstein's role in her relationship with Trump. Last week, she shared an excerpt from her bestselling memoir 'Melania', writing that she met Trump at New York City's Kit Kat Club, not through Epstein.

Wolff also described the first lady as someone who prefers to remain out of the spotlight. "She never is by his side," he said. 

The White House has strongly denied Wolff's allegations.

Communications Director Steven Cheung responded, "Michael Wolff is a lying sack of sh*t and has been proven to be a fraud. He routinely fabricates stories originating from his sick and warped imagination, only possible because he has a severe and debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his peanut-sized brain."

Amid growing attention on the Epstein case, the Trump administration has faced renewed scrutiny after a July 6 memo from the Justice Department and FBI said that no "client list" exists.

Last Tuesday, the Department of Justice sought an interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, the former accomplice of Epstein, currently in jail. She was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking minors on behalf of the disgraced billionaire, who died in custody in 2019.