On a bustling night in 1998 at a New York Fashion Week party, Paolo Zampolli played matchmaker.
The Italian modeling agent had discovered a Slovenian model named Melania Knauss, recruited her to New York, and introduced her to his friend, Donald Trump.
At the time, Zampolli was operating at the intersection of fashion, wealth, and Manhattan nightlifeâa world in which Trump was a regular fixture.
âWe both liked beautiful things,â he told the New York Times in an interview a decade ago.
Itâs Zampolliâs position in that elite social ecosystem that has now drawn him into a separate, more controversial narrative involving the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The renewed scrutiny comes as Melania Trump moved this week to publicly denounce âliesâ linking her to Epstein. But the connective tissue between those worldsâfashion, power, and proximityâruns through Zampolli.
In the early 2000s, Zampolli and Epstein discussed buying a modeling agency together. Later, Zampolli was also named a partner in the now-defunct ocean charity founded by Ghislaine Maxwell, TerraMar Project.
But in a phone interview with the Daily Beast, Zampolli, who now serves as special envoy for Donald Trump, described his relationship with Epstein as one of necessity.
âFor me, Jeffrey Epstein was a financial partner of Victoriaâs Secret. I had to deal with him,â he said, citing the American lingerie business then run by another Epstein associate, Les Wexner.
âWe never get along, thank God. But I had to have a very cordial relationship.â
He also doubled down on Melaniaâs statement on Thursday, in which the first lady rejected suggestions that Epstein introduced her to Trump.
âEven without an attorney, Iâm volunteering to go to Congress to testify about this, because we have seen enough nonsense,â he said, recalling that he was the one who played Cupid.
