‘Thank You, Press!’ Melania Aide Shuts Down Reporter Asking First Lady About Ghislaine Maxwell

A press event with Melania Trump in the White House was quickly shut down by aides after a reporter asked the first lady about her past relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted sex trafficker and Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator.

Melania Trump held a private meeting with freed American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel in the White House, alongside Siegel’s wife Aviva, and took questions from reporters afterward. Melania Trump and Aviva Siegel, who was freed months before her husband, had met in January 2025, and their meeting reportedly led to Keith’s ultimate release.

“That first meeting with Aviva Siegel served as a catalyst to the events leading up to Keith’s freedom. It was clear that day in New York City that Aviva Siegel’s human spirit would move mountains to rescue her husband, Keith,” Melania Trump told the press.

“It was an emotional meeting, and it is captured on camera and available to see in my new film, ‘Melania.’ It was very emotional,” Melania added, which later prompted a question from a reporter about whether or not promoting her film was appropriate given the setting.

Things kept getting worse from there, and the press availability quickly ended after the Maxwell question was asked. As her aides called out “Thank you, press!” to usher them out of the room, Melania Trump replied, “We are here celebrating the release and the life of those two incredible people, so let’s honor that.”

The latest dump of Epstein files highlighted the friendly relationship between Melania Trump and Maxwell. The Telegraph reported on one email released among the docs:

In a 2002 email addressed to “G” and signed “Love, Melania”, Mrs Trump apparently told Maxwell she looked great in a photo featured in a New York Magazine profile of Jeffrey Epstein. She described the piece as a “nice story”.

Watch the clip above.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!