Two weeks ago, Melania Trump “randomly” called a press conference at the White House and made an out-of-nowhere statement about Jeffrey Epstein. The statement was basically that Melania barely knew or socialized with Epstein, that Epstein had not introduced her to her husband, and that the lies about her relationship with Epstein must stop. Many wondered why that exact moment, and what was going on behind the scenes. Quickly, people zeroed on two things: Melania’s ongoing legal beef with journalist Michael Wolff, and a huge number of tweets from a model named Amanda Ungaro. Well, now the Miami Herald has a big report on the Ungaro situation specifically, and how Ungaro’s claims likely led to Melania stepping in front of the cameras.

In 2023, Amanda Ungaro, a Brazilian model who was brought to the United States on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane when she was 16, was trying to build a new life in South Florida with her teenage son, far removed from the modeling world she had grown up in New York. Two years later, Ungaro, 41, was bound in handcuffs and thrown into an immigration detention center in Miami-Dade where she spent three months of misery before being abruptly transported to Louisiana and then deported back to Brazil.

Ungaro, a former diplomat in the first Trump administration, came to the attention of police in April 2024 after authorities received an anonymous tip that she and her husband, Joao Araujo, a Brazilian plastic surgeon, were conducting cosmetic procedures without a license at their wellness center in Aventura.

Her arrest by Aventura police last June led to her being deported to Brazil in October. Ungaro claims her deportation was instigated by her former partner, Paolo Zampolli, a longtime Trump ally and a Trump administration official. She accused Zampolli of using his influence to pressure the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deport her to gain custody of their 16-year-old son. Now she is fighting back.

Ungaro, who was part of President Donald Trump and Melania’s social circle for years, issued a number of angry posts on X directed at the first lady, the president as well as former U.S. attorney general Pam Bondi.

“I will tear down your corrupt system, even if it’s the last thing I do in my life. I will go all the way — I am not afraid. Maybe you should be afraid of what I know … of who you are, and who your husband is,” she said in a post dated April 8 that tagged the first lady’s X account. She threatened legal action against the first lady “and your pedophile husband.”

To Bondi, she said in a post: “Do you fully understand the information I possess regarding you and the individuals associated with you? I strongly advise you to consider the seriousness of these matters. Any actions taken against me or attempts to escalate this situation could have significant legal consequences.”

Epstein’s name was not mentioned in Ungaro’s posts, which have since been deleted. But the following day, April 9, Melania Trump made a rare public statement from the White House disassociating herself from Epstein. She claimed that any suggestion that she and Epstein were anything other than passing social acquaintances was unfounded. She also said she was never a victim of Epstein and, despite what Epstein said in the past, the sex trafficker did not introduce her to Trump.

“The first time I crossed paths with Epstein was in the year 2000, at an event Donald and I attended together. At the time, I had never met Epstein and had no knowledge of his criminal undertakings,” the first lady said.

Ungaro continued her posts after the first lady’s statement. “I have nothing left to lose in my life,” Ungaro wrote on X that same day. “I will tear down the entire system —be careful with me bitch.”

It is unclear whether Melania’s press conference was in reaction to Ungaro’s posts on X. Ungaro, in a phone interview from Brazil, confirmed that she posted the remarks on X. She said she felt betrayed by Melania, with whom she had been friends for two decades. She said she had an expired visa and, before her arrest, she had applied for a new one. She said she reached out unsuccessfully to Melania – and then learned that Zampolli was responsible for having her picked up and jailed by ICE. She spent three months in a Miami detention center before she was deported in October.

Zampolli, 56, is a former modeling agent who met Ungaro when she was 17. They were together for nearly two decades, and worked as diplomats in the first Trump administration. She was a United Nations ambassador to Grenada, and Zampolli was ambassador to Dominica, both Caribbean nations. He now serves as a special envoy for global partnerships in the Trump administration, and remains close to Trump and the first lady. Zampolli has said that he introduced Trump to Melania.

Zampolli, whom Trump also appointed to the Kennedy Center board, reached out to a top ICE official and asked that she be deported, according to the New York Times. The Times reported that the official, David Venturella, called ICE’s Miami office “to ensure” that agents would pick up Ungaro from jail before she could be given bail. “During the call, Mr. Venturella noted that the case was important to someone close to the White House,” the Times reported.

[From The Miami Herald]

It’s really shocking to watch the open corruption of this administration using ICE to deport enemies-of-the-MAGA-state, not to mention watching men have women deported for political and financial reasons. It’s a f–king nightmare. So, I have questions – was the deportation of Amanda Ungaro initially related to something other than Epstein and Melania? I think so – it feels like Zampolli had Ungaro deported for his own reasons, perhaps pursuing his own agenda. Of course, it’s possible Zampolli was ordered or encouraged to pursue Ungaro’s deportation because “she knew too much.” Too much history, too much of the real story between Melania, Donald and Jeffrey Epstein.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.