On Thursday, Ambassador Paolo Zampolli expressed his willingness to testify before Congress, claiming he played a pivotal role in introducing President Donald Trump to his wife, Melania. Zampolli’s assertion came during a phone interview with the Daily Mail, following a remarkable statement by the First Lady at the White House concerning Jeffrey Epstein, which reportedly caught the President off guard.

In her comments, the First Lady firmly dismissed the speculation that Epstein was responsible for her initial meeting with Trump.

“I’m fully prepared to testify before Congress to clarify who introduced the First Lady,” Zampolli confidently stated in his interview. “I can even bring forth 50 witnesses who were present that evening. This is widely known and well-documented history.”

The narrative of their introduction traces back to a New York Fashion Week event in September 1998 at the Kit Kat Club, organized by Zampolli, then a modeling agent.

First Lady breaks silence as Epstein row resurfaces

When questioned about the motivation behind the First Lady’s unexpected remarks, Zampolli suggested that Melania genuinely empathizes with Epstein’s numerous victims.

Asked about what prompted the First Lady’s shock statement, Zampolli said he believed Melania earnestly feels for Epstein’s many victims.

‘I’m sure she cares about the victims and everybody that has been a victim has a right to expose this animal,’ Zampolli told the Daily Mail. ‘I think the First Lady has the biggest heart in the world, she’s a family woman, and she’s our marvelous First Lady,’ he added.

Marc Beckman, senior adviser to the First Lady, told the Daily Mail that Melania spoke out because ‘enough is enough’ and ‘the lies must stop.’

The timing raised eyebrows. Iran war coverage has largely drowned out the Epstein story, save for an ongoing battle on Capitol Hill over whether former Attorney General Pam Bondi must still sit for an Epstein-related deposition.

Trump distances himself from Melania’s Epstein remarks

Even President Trump professed ignorance, telling MSNOW he didn’t ‘know anything about’ Melania’s plans to address Epstein.

The First Lady’s office had sent a press release to the media on Wednesday announcing she planned to make remarks – but gave no hint of the subject.

In a brief statement, during which she ignored reporters’ shouted questions, Melania made clear she was neither ‘friends’ with Epstein nor a ‘victim’ of the [child predator].

‘I honestly think, deep in her heart, she cares about the victims,’ Zampolli said. ‘I know she’s not a victim. We know that.’

‘They met randomly, they met socially – everybody knew Epstein,’ he added. ‘I’m in the files, you know?’

The New York Times confirmed that Zampolli’s name appeared in the Epstein files, in a story alleging the ambassador – who serves as Trump’s Special Envoy for Global Partnership – had outed his ex-girlfriend for being in the country illegally.

‘At no time did I request any favors from my colleagues,’ he told the Daily Mail, denying he had used his close ties to the President to have his ex, Brazilian model Amanda Ungaro, deported. 

‘My inquiries were solely aimed at understanding the situation, and any advice I sought was strictly in relation to my son’s safety,’ he added in an interview last month.

The Times also reported that both Zampolli and Ungaro knew Epstein, and that Epstein and Zampolli had discussed buying a modelling agency together – though in a 2011 email to an Emirati businessman, Epstein sounded a sharply different note: ‘Be careful, [Zampolli] is trouble. Lots. He sells stories to the press.’

In a phone call on Thursday, Zampolli dismissed any suggestion that his fraught relationship with Ungaro had prompted the First Lady’s statement.

‘There’s no way. This is the First Lady of the United States. Do you think she cares about my ex?’ he said.

Since her deportation, Ungaro has spoken out in Brazilian media about flying in 2002, aged 17, on Epstein’s private jet, the Lolita Express – and how uncomfortable the experience was.

‘All I wanted was to get off that plane. I knew something was wrong – I just didn’t know what,’ she told O Globo. ‘At the time, it never crossed my mind that it could involve abuse.’

Ungaro has not suggested Epstein shared a close relationship with the Trumps.

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