Newly surfaced testimony from Jeffrey Epstein’s own words has cast an uncomfortable spotlight on First Lady Melania Trump, with the deceased financier claiming he orchestrated her first meeting with President Donald Trump and boasting that “the first time he slept with her was on my plane.”
The explosive claim appears in court documents that form 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 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.
First Lady Melania Trump forcefully denied the claims in a rare public statement Thursday from the White House. “Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump,” she declared, adding that 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. “These images and stories are completely false,” she said.
Testimony from Johanna Sjoberg, one of Epstein’s victims, describes 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.
President Trump has publicly distanced 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. However, the president had previously described Epstein as a “terrific guy” who enjoyed the company of beautiful women “on the younger side.”
The documents reveal the FBI conducted an extensive investigation after Epstein’s 2019 arrest but ultimately found scant evidence 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.
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, 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 began in 2005 when 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 prominent figures named in the document release include former President Bill Clinton and 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 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.
The experts warned against moving on too quickly 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 mandated 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 3 million additional pages on January 30, 2026.
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 White House has not responded to requests for comment regarding Epstein’s claims about the First Lady beyond her public statement Thursday.