First Lady Melania Trump issued a surprise statement Thursday denying she ever had a “relationship” with Jeffrey Epstein or his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, leaving not only observers confused, but a close adviser to President Donald Trump as well, along with multiple senior administration officials.
“To be clear, I never had a relationship with Epstein or his accomplice, [Ghislaine] Maxwell,” Mrs. Trump said, and despite appearing to acknowledge a 2002 email from a sender identified as “Melania” to “G. Max” in which the two exchanged pleasantries and discussed meeting – correspondence some have speculated involved her and Maxwell.
One “close Trump adviser” shared their confusion with Zeteo in the outlet’s report Friday.
“What the f--- is she doing right now?” they told Zeteo.
Trump himself reportedly was unaware that his wife had planned to make such a statement, telling MS NOW’s Jacqueline Alemany that he didn’t “know anything about” her statement prior to it being issued.
Two senior Trump administration officials told Zeteo that they were “similarly baffled” as to what Mrs. Trump’s motivations were behind the surprise statement, as well as that they had “no idea” that it was coming, the outlet reported. And another individual who’s been close to Trump and Mrs. Trump “for years,” Zeteo reported, described Mrs. Trump’s statement as a “poorly worded denial.”
“I would have gone a different route,” the person close with the president and first lady told Zeteo.