Melania Trump has plunged deeper into the Epstein scandal amid new allegations by a close ex-friend. (Pboto: White House)
Melania Trump now appears to have been far more involved with Jeffrey Epstein than her previous denials would suggest, including a possible relationship, according to a former close friend.
Former Brazilian model Amanda Ungaro, who is estranged from 19-year boyfriend and close Trump associate Paolo Zampolli, has ripped open a chapter in Melania’s past that’s far different from the first lady’s recollections.
Ironically, Melania put herself in play on the Epstein question last April when she made a surprise televised announcement. She denied any connection to Epstein, and said any claims to the contrary “need to end today.”
Donald Trump and Melania in 1999. (Photo: John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com )
Reports about her links to Epstein, she said, were “mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation.”
She said she only knew of Epstein because they traveled in the same New York City social circles and denied knowing Ghislaine Maxwell, the disgraced financier’s jailed associate.
“I have never had any knowledge of Epstein abuse of his victims,” she said. “I was never involved in any capacity. I was not a participant.”
It is unclear what prompted the announcement. There was no prior indication from her office, and the White House did not share the topic earlier when her remarks were put on its daily schedule, according to the BBC.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky), who has been leading the effort in Congress to release the Epstein files, claimed in a May interview that Melania “knows” Jeffrey Epstein wasn’t running his child sex abuse ring alone.
What makes Ungaro different is her close association with Melania and Zampolli, who is now Trump’s U.S. Special Envoy (or Special Representative) for Global Partnerships.
In a recorded intervew Ungaro, who was deported to Brazil — allegedly at Zampolli’s urging — asserts that Melania worked as a high-end escort for Epstein, before being introduced to Trump.
“She was an escort of Jeffrey Epstein. That’s how she met Donald Trump…” Ungaro said in a recorded statement she since deleted.
“I am not telling a story. I am standing by the truth I lived,” she added in a seperate social media post.
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Ungaro says Melania knows she personally witnessed highly compromising interactions and feels threatened by that, according to media reports. Ungaro was part of Melania’s “close circle of friends” for 20 years.
For her part, Melania’s self-titled memoir claims Zampolli first introduced her to Trump in Sept. 1998 at the Kit Kat Club in New York City. The introduction was completely independent of Epstein, she asserts.
The report that Melania once worked as a sex worker first surfaced in a publication in 2016 in The London Daily Mail.
Melania has been quick to sue, or threaten to sue, any outlet that claims she was once a sex worker. She sued and forced the Daily Mail to retact the claim and pay damages.
In October 2025, publisher HarperCollins UK capitulated, issued a public apology to Melania and struck a passage from a book by author Andrew Lownie, who alleged Epstein had bragged about having a sexual relationship with Melania a full year before her relationship began with Trump.
Melania also threatened to sue Hunter Biden and author Michael Wolff over claims Epstein introduced her to Trump, but she never followed through in court. Neither has retracted their statements.
In recorded conversations with Wolff, Epstein described Trump as his “closest friend” and claimed “the first he slept with her was on my plane,” well known as the Lolita Express.
Epstein also often boasted that he was the one who introduced Trump to his third wife.
Trump had separated from his second wife Marla Maples, the mother of daughter Tiffany Trump, by the time he met Melania in 1998, although his divorce wasn’t finalized until 1999.
To Melania’s credit, she was the only one of Trump’s three wives who wasn’t pregnant when they married.
But their relationship has been under a microscope since Trump ran for president in 2015-16.
Fact-checking sites like Snopes have batted down a slew of allegations over the years — “all determined to be unsupported by credible evidence” — yet they keep resurfacing. Late last year, reports that Melania was a sex worker started trending, again, on social media.
Zampolli, a former modeling agent who represented Ungaro and Melania in the 1990s, has claimed that he first introduced her to Trump. But Ungaro is the first person with credible insider knowledge to dispute that view in a recording she posted, then deleted.
“Let’s tell the public you were never was the one introduced Melania to Trump. It was Jeffrey Epstein.. as a …she was escort of Jeffrey Epstein. That’s how she met Donald Trump,” said Ungaro, who speaks broken English.
“Let’s be honestly, nobody is stupid here… and I know because I was with your for 20 years, and you always told me it was not you. It was Jeffrey Epstein.
Ungaro has been embroiled in a bitter custody dispute with Zampolli over their son since at least 2023 and is continuing in Brazil and the United States.
The Brazilian model spent months in federal immigration detention after Zampolli allegedly used his political ties to Trump to tip off her immigration status to senior ICE officials. Ungaro chose to be deported rather than stay jailed.
Melania’s claim she never knew or met Maxwell quickly unraveled once Epstein documents were released.
The Department of Justice released past email exchanges between the Epstein sex trafficker and Melania (then Melania Knauss) dating back to 2002.
“Dear G! How are you?” wrote Melania. “Nice story about JE in NY mag. You look great on the picture.”
Several photos were included with the New York magazine piece, including separate images of Epstein with Bill Clinton, model Brenda Schad, Donald Trump, Robert Kennedy Jr., and Maxwell.
“I know you are very busy flying all over the world. How was Palm Beach? I cannot wait to go down,” Melania continued in her email. “Give me a call when you are back in NY.
“Have a great time! Love, Melania,” she concluded.
Melania complimented Maxwell and proposed to get together in New York. Melania’s team has maintained the correspondence was strictly “casual correspondence.”
The FBI also released files revealing that an unnamed former model and one-time assistant to Epstein in 2005-2006, told authorities under penalty of perjury that Epstein actually introduced Donald Trump to Melania.
Melania has called for public congressional hearings on behalf of survivors.