Melania Trump denied having any relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Melania Trump Called ‘Huge Liability’ as Author Points to White House ‘Dysfunction’
April 30 2026, Published 3:44 p.m. ET
Melania Trump has become a source of concern within President Donald Trump’s White House, according to author Michael Wolff.
He pointed to her recent public statements, her documentary, and her reaction to late-night host Jimmy Kimmel as indications that the first lady has shifted from being a political asset to a potential issue for the administration.
Wolff shared these thoughts on the Inside Trump’s Head podcast with Joanna Coles.
Michael Wolff says Epstein claimed he had an intimate relationship with Melania Trump/
He mentioned that people he spoke with in the White House now view Melania Trump as “a huge liability,” based on reports from the episode.
“The Melania of it all has now become a matter of serious concern,” Wolff said, as reported by The Daily Beast.
He noted that this change happened after a time when the first lady was seen as a stabilizing presence for Trump because she typically kept a low profile compared to other members of his political team.
Wolff said her visibility increased as she took part in several events that attracted attention to the White House. He mentioned her documentary, her public denial of any connection to Jeffrey Epstein, and her disagreement with Kimmel following a joke about her marriage to the president.
“I said to a person I was speaking with this morning in the White House, ‘So what you’re saying is that she’s become a wild card?’” Wolff shared, according to OK! Magazine. “And this person said, ‘Well, I didn’t say it, but you said it.’”
Melania faced backlash from Epstein's victims after her statement.
Wolff pointed out that the first lady’s recent statement about Epstein drew renewed focus on an issue the White House had hoped to move past.
Earlier this month, Melania Trump declared that she had no connection to Epstein and was unaware of his abuse of victims. She also described allegations against her as “mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation.”
The president later said he was not aware that she was going to make a statement.
Wolff indicated that her statement did not achieve the desired results. “She managed to squarely put herself into the Epstein story,” he said during the podcast.
The Daily Beast reported that Wolff mentioned White House figures linked criticism of her critically panned docufilm to her current position within Trump’s team.
Amazon paid $40 million for the rights to the documentary and later spent an additional $35 million on marketing, according to reports.
Wolff added that Melania Trump’s response to Kimmel didn’t help the White House. After Kimmel made a joke about her during a mock White House Correspondents’ Dinner segment, she took to social media to call him “a coward” and labeled his words as “corrosive.”
Wolff stated that people within the White House felt the argument made the president appear thin-skinned and drew attention to his marriage. Per the report, insiders felt that the Kimmel incident was “backfiring.”
As previously reported on Morning Honey, Kimmel’s ratings went up after the controversy.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung called Wolff a liar in a statement to The Daily Beast, while a spokesman for Trump’s legal team accused him of spreading false information.
Wolff has authored several books about Trump and his latest remarks came as he promoted a podcast episode that described a White House facing anxiety and miscalculation during a time of intense public scrutiny surrounding Trump, the royal visit, and the fallout from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.