Fact Check: Was Melania Trump an escort before meeting Donald Trump?
WASHINGTON, DC: A rumor has been circulating on a social media platform claiming that First Lady Melania Trump previously worked as an escort before meeting her husband, President Donald Trump. Some of these posts even link Melania to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, sparking speculations. Let us analyse the rumors and fact-check the viral claim.
Claim: Melania Trump was an escort before meeting Donald Trump
According to the viral rumor, Melania worked as an escort before meeting her now-husband, Trump. The sources spreading the claim also allege a link between Melania and the disgraced financier and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.
The claim has circulated since 2016 and has been repeated by several figures, including former President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, Brazilian model Amanda Ungaro, and the Daily Mail.
Ungaro is the former partner of Paolo Zampolli, a former modeling agent who represented Melania Trump in the 1990s and is a close ally of Donald Trump.
Fact Check: No evidence to substantiate the claim
The however are false, as they are not supported by credible evidence. According to the BBC, Melania sued the Daily Mail and a blogger in the US who also shared the defamation claim, seeking $150 million in damages.
However, according to Politico, both the blogger and the Daily Mail settled the lawsuits, retracted the articles, and paid damages to Melania.
Ungaro's repeated claim that Melania worked as an escort and that Epstein introduced her to Trump is also baseless. The original video of the accusation was posted on X by an account known for spreading unfounded rumors, which has since been deleted.
Pam Bondi says Todd Blanche oversaw the release of Epstein files
The claim emerged after former Attorney General Pam Bondi told lawmakers that Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Justice Department, oversaw the review and release of controversial documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.
According to a transcript of Bondi’s closed-door testimony before the House Oversight Committee, released on June 4, Blanche supervised the department’s compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act and managed the release process. Bondi told lawmakers that he was responsible for overseeing the entire process.
