President Donald Trump said it “doesn’t bother” him that first lady Melania Trump gave a public address distancing herself from Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Trump told The New York Times in a phone interview Friday. “I didn’t know what the statement was, but I knew she was going to make a statement.”
On Thursday, the first lady gave a White House address saying the “lies” linking her to Epstein “need to end today” which appeared to come out of the blue.
Melania Trump said she was not a victim of Epstein, and that they only briefly “crossed paths” in 2000 because of their overlapping social circles.
She also called for Congress to hold a hearing featuring testimony from the Epstein survivors.
The announcement caught reporters and the public off-guard and led to speculation that the first lady may be trying to get ahead of an upcoming story. The president told MS NOW reporter Jacqueline Alemany shortly after the address that he did not know the topic of her remarks ahead of time.
Trump told The NYT that rumors linking his wife to Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, had been causing her increasing frustration.
The president said one story in particular — a claim that she actually met Trump through Epstein — has been especially offensive to her.
“She finds it very insulting,” Trump told the outlet. “And I said ‘ If you want to do that, you can do that.’ I said if she wants to do it — I didn’t recommend it, but I said, I let it be her, I said, if you want to do it …”
He continued, saying that his wife “didn’t meet me through Jeffrey Epstein.”
“And I could understand her feelings. But I said, ‘If you want to do it, do it,” he said.
Trump did not tell The NYT when exactly he had that discussion with the first lady, but said that “it wasn’t a big discussion. I’d say it lasted for about two minutes. I had no problem. I thought she actually did a good job.”
Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s former chief of staff, told CNN on Thursday that she believes Trump was well aware that his wife was planning to talk about the rumors.
“I’m gonna say, I call BS on our president saying he knew nothing about it, because at the very least I imagine [the first lady] would have given him a heads up if she had sent an advisory out yesterday,” Grisham said on CNN’s The Lead on Thursday.
While the first lady’s intention may have been to put rumors to rest, the abrupt nature of her address only stirred up more questions among the public.
The NYT asked Trump if he, like his wife, was upset that he was frequently linked to Epstein.
The president said that he doesn’t mind “anything having to do with Epstein” but complained that discussing the subject caused him to “waste a lot of time.” Trump added that his wife “had a right to talk about it, because the fake news covers her so inaccurately.”
The Trump administration has been desperate to move past the Epstein case. While the war in Iran had effectively pulled public attention elsewhere, the first lady’s comments reignited the story.
When asked if he was upset by the renewed interest, Trump told The NYT , “I never get upset.”
The Independent has requested comment from the White House.
