Washington DC - A former close friend of Melania Trump recently came forward with some damning allegations about the first lady's relationship with notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

According to The Daily Beast, former Brazilian model Amanda Ungaro shared – and quickly deleted – an X post on Monday that featured a taped recording in which she accused her ex-lover Paolo Zampolli of lying about introducing President Donald Trump to Melania at a party in 1998.

"Let's tell the public you never was the one introducing Melania to Trump. It was Jeffrey Epstein, as she was escort of Jeffrey Epstein. That's how she met Donald Trump," Ungaro said in the recording, directed at Zampolli.

"And I know, because I was with you 20 years and you always told me it was not you – it was Jeffrey Epstein."

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Zampolli is a former modeling agent who now works as a Special Envoy for Global Partnerships with the Trump administration, and he is a member of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees.

He and Ungaro, who was brought to the US by an Epstein associate when she was only 17, have for decades maintained a close relationship with the Trumps, regularly attending events at their Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

But in recent years, the two have been entrenched in a heated custody battle over their son, with Ungaro repeatedly threatening to go public with the "truth" about Zampolli and the Trumps.

When reached for comment, Zampolli responded, "I think it is a disgrace that she dares to say this about our marvelous first lady."

"I'm truly concerned for her health, and I think she truly needs some therapy," he added.

Ugaro's post comes after President Trump vowed to release all government files related to Epstein, who died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges involving minors, upon winning re-election.

But Trump later backed down after it was revealed he was named in the files countless times, as he and Epstein maintained a close friendship for decades.

The president has since tried to sweep the scandal under the rug, but the Epstein files have captivated voters on both sides of the political aisle, as Americans appear to refuse to lose interest.

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The Epstein Transparency Act, passed by Congress and signed by Trump in November 2025, forced the release of the files. However, the administration has faced criticism over its handling of the release, as it did not meet the initial deadline and made heavy redactions of the content.

The story of how the Trumps met has been contested over the years, and their relationship with Epstein has been scrutinized as well, as Melania was also mentioned several times in files released by the DOJ so far.

Back in April, Melania delivered a surprise press conference in which she called for the "lies" linking her to Epstein to "end today" and claimed that images and stories about her with disgraced financier were "completely false."

"I am not Epstein's victim. Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump," she declared.

The first lady also urged Congress to hold a public hearing for survivors of Epstein's abuse to "give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath," but did not go as far to committ to testifying herself.