First Lady Melania Trump’s unexpected White House address forcefully denying any ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and her unprecedented call for congressional hearings for his victims has sparked a political firestorm.

In a surprise April 9 announcement, the first lady addressed reporters at the White House to categorically dismantle rumors regarding her past. She declared:

“The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today.”

However, the politically charged statement has failed to lift market sentiment around the $MELANIAtoken.

Melania Trump denies links with Jeffrey Epstein

The first lady also took aim at what she described as “mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation” by individuals she called devoid of ethical standards.

Melania Trump's remarks were sweeping in their scope. She forcefully rebutted persistent online rumors that Epstein was the one who introduced her to Donald Trump.

“I am not Epstein’s victim. Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump,” she said, noting that her initial encounter with her husband occurred by chance at a New York City party in 1998, a meeting documented in her book, $MELANIA. A book by Michael Wolff had claimed she was first introduced to her husband through a modeling agent tied to Epstein.

The first lady also clarified that her first encounter with Epstein was in 2000 at a shared event, noting that “overlapping in social circles is common in New York City and Palm Beach.”

Attempting to sever any perceived ties to Epstein’s inner circle, Melania Trump minimized her past communications with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s convicted accomplice. She stated:

“My email reply to Maxwell cannot be categorized as anything more than casual correspondence.”

The first lady also addressed a widely circulated, digitally altered image that social media users falsely claimed was shared by French President Emmanuel Macron, purporting to show her alongside Epstein.

She warned:

“Numerous fake images and statements about Epstein and me have been circulating on social media for years now. These images and stories are completely false.”

In her speech, she noted that her legal team has already successfully forced retractions and apologies from entities such as The Daily Beast, James Carville, and Harper's Collins UK.

At the end of her speech, the first lady made a direct appeal to lawmakers to investigate the broader network surrounding the disgraced financier. She stated:

“I call on Congress to provide the women who have been victimized by Epstein with a public hearing specifically centered around the survivors. Give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath in front of Congress, with the power of sworn testimony… Then, and only then, will we have the truth.”

Notably, President Donald Trump has also repeatedly denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein. However, the president has faced sustained pressure to detail his knowledge of Epstein's sprawling web of influence.

$MELANIAprice struggles continue

However, the political spectacle has landed with a thud in the crypto market.

The first lady’s namesake cryptocurrency, the $MELANIAtoken, continues to languish near historic lows, entirely unfazed by the renewed media spotlight.

The failure of such a high-profile, controversy-laden public appearance to generate even a temporary uptrend reflects the evaporating speculative interest in politically themed meme coins.

According to CryptoSlatedata, the token is currently trading at roughly $0.10, down more than 3% over the past 24 hours despite wall-to-wall cable news coverage of her remarks. More notably, $MELANIAhas plunged approximately 99% from its January 2025 peak of $13.70.

The disconnect between the political uproar and the crypto market's indifference is stark.

In the crypto ecosystem, the “attention economy” typically dictates that this kind of public appearance is good for meme coins, which thrive on virality and name recognition rather than underlying utility.

Yet, the gravity of the Epstein scandal appears to have overridden the typical market mechanics.

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