Shrai
Popat (now) and Tom Ambrose (earlier)
10 Apr 2026 13.38 BST
From 3h
ago
11.23 BST
Epstein
survivors accused Melania Trump of 'shifting the burden' after surprise
statement
Hello and
welcome to the US politics live blog.
Melania
Trump has been accused of “shifting the burden” onto sex offender Jeffrey
Epstein’s survivors after her extraordinary statement at the White House.
In a
joint statement released to the media, a group of survivors said the first lady
had moved to “protect those in power”.
They
accused her of “shifting the burden onto survivors under politicized conditions
to protect those with power”.
The
statement read:
Survivors
of Jeffrey Epstein have already shown extraordinary courage by coming forward,
filing reports, and giving testimony.
Asking
more of them now is a deflection of responsibility, not justice.
It added:
It also
diverts attention from [former attorney general] Pam Bondi, who must answer for
withheld files and the exposure of survivors’ identities.
Those
failures continue to put lives at risk while shielding enablers. Survivors have
done their part. Now it’s time for those in power to do theirs.
The first
lady told reporters on Thursday that she “never had a relationship” with the
late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
It was
unclear which specific accusations spurred the first lady to respond publicly.
She delivered her scripted remarks at a podium in the same room Donald Trump
used to address the nation on the war in Iran last week.
“I [have]
never been friends with Epstein,” Trump said in her statement. “I am not
Epstein’s victim. Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump.”
The first
lady went on to say that she and the president were invited to the same parties
as Epstein “from time to time” as “overlapping in social circles is common in
New York City and Palm Beach”. But she specifically denied that her emails to
Maxwell were anything more than “casual correspondence”.
In other
developments:
The push
from House Democrats to pass a war powers resolution by unanimous consent
failed yesterday, after the pro forma speaker, Republican Chris Smith, did not
recognize Democrats. It was always a tall order, given that pushback from even
a single member would require Democrats to pursue a formal vote on the
resolution.
While
it’s largely a symbolic move, Democrats in both chambers have vowed to hold
votes again when Congress returns from recess next week. On the steps of the US
Capitol, lower chamber Democrats appeared confident that when Congress returns
from recess next week, they will have at least a couple of House GOP members
who are willing to buck their party and pass the resolution.
Donald
Trump told NBC News that he is “very optimistic” a peace deal with Iran was
within reach as a diplomatic delegation led by his vice-president JD Vance
prepared to head to Pakistan for high-stakes talks aimed at ending the war this
weekend. Iran’s leaders “talk much differently when you’re at a meeting than
they do to the press. They’re much more reasonable,” the president said, in
line with his administration’s narrative that there’s a disconnect between what
Tehran says publicly and privately.
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