Congressional Oversight Pressure

In a rare roughly six‑minute White House address on April 9, 2026, First Lady Melania Trump forcefully denied media and online speculation tying her to Jeffrey Epstein—saying she was “not Epstein’s victim,” that Epstein did not introduce her to Donald Trump, that she first encountered Epstein around 2000, and that she never flew on his plane, visited his private island, or had any knowledge of his abuse. She characterized a 2002 email to Ghislaine Maxwell ending “Love, Melania” as a polite, casual trifle, urged that survivors’ testimony be entered into the congressional record and pressed for public survivor hearings, remarks spurred by the Justice Department’s recent release of Epstein‑related files and prompting calls from Democrats for immediate oversight.