Amanda Ungaro, a former Brazilian model who sat at First Lady Melania Trump's personal table during the 2017 inauguration dinner, alleged in a now-deleted recording circulated on X this weekend that Melania was an 'escort' for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and that Epstein, not modelling agent Paolo Zampolli, introduced her to Donald Trump.
What the Deleted Recording Says
Ungaro, who spent nearly 20 years in a relationship with Zampolli, directly addressed her ex-partner in a leaked WhatsApp voice recording that went viral on X late on Sunday before being scrubbed hours later.
Amanda Ungaro, ex-girlfriend of Paolo Zampolli and mother of his son, claims that Paolo Zampolli did NOT introduce Melania to Donald Trump. Jeffrey Epstein did:
— Dr. Anastasia Maria Loupis (@DrLoupis__) June 1, 2026
“She (Melania) was an escort of Jeffrey Epstein. That’s how she met Donald Trump" pic.twitter.com/N8VtudcIZ1
'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.
She added that Zampolli had privately told her for years that he was not the one who arranged the introduction. The recording was first published on X by independent journalist Anthony Andrews, who stated he shared the media file at Ungaro's direct request. Andrews later noted that Ungaro asked him to take it down, but by then copies had already spread across multiple social platforms.
An FBI Witness Told a Similar Story
Ungaro's claims don't exist in isolation. A heavily redacted FBI FD-302 proffer interview conducted in July 2019, days after Epstein's arrest on sex trafficking charges, contains a strikingly similar account from a separate witness.
A former Epstein assistant, interviewed under a proffer agreement that carries federal penalties for false statements, told FBI agents and federal prosecutors that 'Epstein introduced Melania Trump to Donald Trump.'
The same witness said Zampolli and Epstein had been trying to buy French modelling agency Elite Models together and that Epstein visited Zampolli's agency during casting auditions to review model portfolios. The 11-page document was released as part of the Department of Justice's Epstein Files Transparency Act disclosures earlier this year.
Melania's April Denial Faces Fresh Questions
The allegations add new weight to questions surrounding Melania Trump's surprise White House address on 9 April, when she publicly denied any connection to Epstein without any apparent prompt.
'I am not Epstein's victim. Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump. I met my husband, by chance, at a New York City party in 1998,' Melania said from the Grand Foyer before walking away without taking questions.
President Trump told reporters at the time that he had not known about the statement in advance. But Ungaro had been posting escalating messages on X directed at Melania's archived First Lady account in the days before the denial, claiming to possess compromising information and vowing to 'expose everything'.
Ungaro's proximity to the First Family is well documented. She and Zampolli attended the 2017 inauguration and sat at Melania's personal table during the dinner. They also celebrated New Year's with the Trumps at Mar-a-Lago. Ungaro herself was 17 when she boarded Epstein's private jet in 2002, accompanied by French modelling scout Jean-Luc Brunel, a known Epstein recruiter.
Zampolli Calls the Claims 'a Disgrace'
Zampolli, who now serves as Trump's Special Envoy for Global Partnerships and sits on the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, told the Daily Beast the allegations were 'a disgrace' directed at 'our marvelous first lady.' He has maintained for years that he introduced the Trumps at a 1998 New York party.
The allegations remain unverified. Ungaro is currently locked in a bitter custody battle with Zampolli and was deported to Brazil in 2025 after her arrest on fraud-related charges. She has accused Zampolli of using his government connections to trigger her deportation, a claim both he and the Department of Homeland Security have denied.
Neither the White House nor the First Lady's office has publicly responded to the latest recording.
