(NewsNation) — Who introduced Donald Trump to Melania? It’s been a hot topic of debate since Hunter Biden alleged that it was Jeffrey Epstein. But that doesn’t match what Trump himself said when he first talked publicly about dating Melania.
At the time Donald Trump was ready to go public that he was dating the future first lady, he told the New York Post that it was Paolo Zampolli who introduced them, according to NewsNation’s Paula Froelich, who was in the room at the time the call came in.
Froelich says Zampolli also told her multiple times that he’d introduced Trump and Melania. Zampolli was the owner of the modeling agency where Melania (then known as Melania Knauss) was a model.
Multiple news outlets also reported that Zampolli introduced the couple at a party in 1998.
Melania ‘very upset’ at Hunter Biden claim: President
In an interview Thursday with Fox News Radio, Trump said he encouraged his wife, whom he described as “very upset” at Hunter Biden’s claim, to go forward with legal action.
“Jeffrey Epstein had nothing to do with Melania and introducing [us],” Trump told Brian Kilmeade. “But they do that to demean. They make up stories.”
Trump said another person introduced him to Melania, though he didn’t name that person Thursday.
Defiant Hunter Biden says he won’t retract
Hunter Biden said in an interview on “Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan” that Epstein introduced the couple, citing biographer Michael Wolff.
Wolff, who has written several books about Trump, told The Daily Beast in a recent podcast that Melania was introduced by a “model agent” with ties to both Trump and Epstein. Wolff doesn’t name the agent.
Melania Trump’s lawyers responded with a letter to Hunter Biden demanding he “immediately retract the false, defamatory, disparaging and inflammatory statements made about Mrs. Trump” as well as “immediately issue an apology.”
Thursday, Biden responded by saying he won’t apologize and would not retract the comments.
“F— that. That’s not going to happen,” Biden said of Melania Trump’s demand.
Zampolli has a career in diplomacy
Zampolli has been a member of the board of the Kennedy Center since he was appointed in 2021. He has also worked in several roles with the United Nations and currently serves as a special envoy of the president of the United States of America for global partnerships.
He’s had roles working with the governments of Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Grenada among others.
He also served as the director of international development in the Trump Organization in the mid-2000s.