With war raging in the Middle East and midterms on the horizon, the White House seemed to have finally shaken the Jeffrey Epstein saga that plagued the first year of Donald Trump’s second term.
Inside the White House, officials had started to move on.
But for first lady Melania Trump, the Epstein story was still all consuming.
Trump’s extraordinary remarks on Thursday distancing herself from the late sex offender were driven by her monthslong fixation on press coverage and internet speculation about her ties to Epstein, two people familiar with the matter told CNN.
The first lady’s dismay over the issue prompted her seemingly abrupt decision to publicly address it — despite little apparent need to do so and with minimal advance notice given even to her husband.
“There were stories about her that were being amplified by random blogs — and they were still hitting her over Epstein, because that is what they do,” one of the people familiar with the matter said. “She wanted to go on the record and deny it.”
The White House announced on Wednesday morning that Trump would be making a statement, without specifying the topic. Standing in the Cross Hall a little more than 24 hours later, the first lady stunned senior White House aides.
Even her husband said in a brief phone interview later that day that he didn’t know about it ahead of time. On Friday, he told The New York Times that he knew the first lady had wanted to speak about Epstein at some point but confirmed he did not know what she planned to say.
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