Melania’s ‘Love’ Email to Ghislaine Revealed in Epstein Files
An email exchange between the first lady and Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice in 2002 was included in the latest document dump.

Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty
A gushing email exchange between first lady Melania Trump and Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell was included in the latest dump of Epstein files.
In the first message from 2002, Melania praised a New York magazine article about Epstein and complemented the socialite now serving 20 years in prison for sex-trafficking.
“Dear G! How are you?” it starts. “Nice story about JE in NY mag. You look great in the picture.”
At the time, the first lady was still Melania Knauss and was just dating Trump.
The pair were photographed with Epstein and Maxwell around that time, but the email appears to be the first written communication between Melania and Maxwell in the files.

Melania Trump, then Knauss with Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Davidoff Studios Photography/Getty Images
“I know you are very busy flying all over the world,” she continued in her email. “How was Palm Beach? I cannot wait to go down. Give me a call when you are back in NY. Have a great time!”
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She signed it “Love, Melania.”

A 2002 email from Melania Trump to Ghislaine Maxwell was released in the Jeffrey Epstein files on Friday, January 30, 2026.
Justice Department
In another file released on Friday, Maxwell responded to Melania’s email, addressing her as “Sweet pea.” Maxwell indicated that she would try to call her in her response.
“Actually plans changed again and I am now on my way back to NY. I leave again on Fri so I still do not think I have time to see you sadly. I will try and call though,” Maxwell wrote. “Keep well.”
The Daily Beast reached out to both the White House and the first lady’s office for comment.
The email exchange was among the more than three million additional pages of documents released by the Justice Department as required by law under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The document dump on Friday came six weeks after the deadline for the Justice Department to release all the files on the convicted sex offender.
The Trump administration is accused of violating the law for failing to meet multiple deadlines in releasing the documents.
The latest document dump includes more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, according to the Justice Department, bringing the total documents released to date to 3.5 million pages.

An image of Ghislaine Maxwell, Donald Trump, and Melania Trump in Tatler magazine, which was included in the Epstein files.
Department of Justice
While the latest release of documents included emails between the current first lady and Maxwell, files also included multiple emails that mention Melania.
Another email included in the document dump came from a redacted name to Epstein the day after the 2016 election. It starts with a comment on the sender being surprised by the election’s outcome and mentions Melania in a noticeable line.
“I remember flying back with Donald on his plane the first weekend I went to v=sit [sic] 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 a--.’”
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