Melania Trump

First lady Melania Trump has delivered a statement at the White House denying ties to Jeffrey Epstein and knowledge of his crimes. In the extraordinary moment on Thursday, the first lady denied any association with Epstein and called accusations that she was involved in Epstein’s crimes “baseless lies.” The seemingly out-of-the-blue message came as her husband, President Donald Trump, and his administration had finally seemed to move past more than a year of controversy surrounding Epstein, especially as the Iran war had become all-consuming in Washington. A spokesman for the first lady said the West Wing knew beforehand that she'd be giving a statement, but it wasn't clear it the content of her remarks were known.