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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 6, 2026

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We interrupt your regularly scheduled Iran posts with more Epstein posts.

Melania Trump says rumors linking her to Epstein need to stop

I never been friends with Epstein. Donald and I were invited to the same parties as Epstein from time to time since overlapping in social circles is common in New York City and Palm Beach. To be clear, I never had a relationship with Epstein or his accomplice Maxwell. My email reply to Maxwell cannot be categorized as anything more than casual correspondence. My polite reply to her email doesn't amount to anything more than a trial [?] note. 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. This initial encounter with my husband is documented in a detail in my book Melania. The first time I crossed paths with Epstein was in the year 2000 at an event Donald and I attended together.

For reference: This document, a proffer by one of Epstein's assistants, claims that Epstein introduced Melania to Donald; the assistant also worked for Paolo Zampolli, the man who hosted the party at which Trump and Melania met. Another piece of correspondence by a redacted author to Epstein claims that "I remember flying back with Donald on his plane the first weekend I went to visit you in Florida was the weekend he met Melania and he kept on coming out of the bedroom saying 'wow what a hot piece of ass'". So at the least, her claim that "My name has never appeared in court documents, depositions, victim statements, or FBI interviews surrounding the Epstein matter" is incorrect.

Michael Wolff, who become a sort of Epstein confidant while researching Trump, said Epstein claimed that the first time Trump and Melania banged was on the infamous Lolita Express.

This appears to be the referenced correspondence with Maxwell. Seems a little bit friendlier than "casual".

The only way I can make sense of this is that the ceasefire negotiations are going so badly that Trump told Melania to put more Epstein stories in the headlines to distract the public

First the war is to distract from Epstein, then Epstein is to distract from the war. We've come full circle.