Claim:

A photo authentically shows future U.S. first lady Melania Trump, then Melania Knauss, posing partially nude for modeling pictures on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s airplane.

Rating:

Rating: Misleading

In early 2026 — following the release of the movie “Melania” — online users shared a rumor claiming a years-old image showed U.S. first lady Melania Trump, then Melania Knauss, posing partially n*de with a briefcase filled with jewelry on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s airplane.

Users shared this claim, Instagram (archived), Threads (archived), and X](https://x.com/OlenaRohoza/status/2017955230277632469 “https://x.com/OlenaRohoza/status/2017955230277632469”) (archived), including an image meme (archived) reading, “Fun fact: This famous picture of first lady Melania Trump was taken on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane.” Snopes received reader mail asking whether the posts were accurate.

(@drhossamsamy65/X)

به طور خلاصه، کاربران تصویری واقعی از ترامپ را به همراه کپشن‌های نادرست به اشتراک گذاشتند، بنابراین ما این ادعا را به عنوان “کپشن نادرست” ارزیابی کرده‌ایم. عکس واقعی بود و با استفاده از هوش مصنوعی یا سایر نرم‌افزارهای ویرایش تصویر دستکاری نشده بود. مجله GQ در شماره ژانویه 2000، فتوگرافی Antoine Verglas را به عنوان فردی که عکس‌ها را از هواپیمای بویینگ 727 سابق ترامپ – که متعلق به Epstein نبود – ثبت کرده بود.

ما با یک سخنگوی اولین دوشیزه و همچنین Verglas تماس گرفتیم تا در مورد این موضوع سوال کنیم، اما پاسخی دریافت نکردیم.

GQ در سال 2016 مجدداً عکس‌ها را منتشر کرد

در تاریخ 8 نوامبر 2016 – تاریخ پیروزی اولین انتخابات ترامپ – GQ گزارش کرد دوباره در مورد عکس‌ها از جلسه عکس‌برداری برای شماره ژانویه 2000، از جمله اشاره به اینکه Verglas عکس‌ها را کجا ثبت کرده بود:

Sixteen years ago we profiled Donald Trump’s then-girlfriend Melania Knauss. Now his wife, Melania featured in our naked profile shoot on his customised Boeing 727 wearing handcuffs, wielding diamonds and holding a chrome pistol (it was the lads mag era after all). It makes for some interesting reading today, considering Donald Trump’s success in the US election…

[…]

“We were bombarded by requests to shoot Melania,” GQ editor Dylan Jones said when asked about our January 2000 n*de shoot with Melania Trump, after we had dug through the archives and published the images online in March 2016. “Given that she was obviously so keen to be featured in GQ, we came up with a rather kitsch and camp story for her to feature in.” Donald Trump also requested that photographs be delivered to his office. “We framed the cover and a selection of prints and sent them as soon as we could.”

The WorthPoint antiques, art and collectibles archiving company hosted images of the original print edition of GQ’s January 2000 issue, including a picture showing a photo caption mentioning Trump’s Boeing 727 as the shoot’s location.

Melania Trump defended n*de modeling photos

In September 2024, Melania Trump — ahead of the release of her memoir, “Melania” — shared a statement (archived) on social media defending her n*de modeling photos. The statement read:

Melania Trump speaks about her n*de modeling work:

“Why do I stand proudly behind my n*de modeling work? The more pressing question is – why has the media chosen to scrutinize my celebration of the human form in a fashion photoshoot? Are we no longer able to appreciate the beauty of the human body? Throughout history, master artists have revered the human shape, evoking profound emotions and admiration. We should honor our bodies and embrace the timeless tradition of using art as a powerful means of self expression.”

She also shared a video (archived) in which she read the words from the statement:

For further reading, we previously reported about a rumor claiming Melania Trump worked as an escort before meeting Donald Trump at a party hosted by Epstein confidant and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.

Sources:

Clough, Alexandra. “What Happened to Donald Trump’s Old Plane?” The Palm Beach Post, 20 June 2011, https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/politics/2011/06/20/what-happened-to-donald-trump/7271008007/.

GQ. “Melania Trump – the First Lady in Our Nude Photo Shoot.” British GQ, 8 Nov. 2016, https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/donald-trump-melania-trump-knauss-first-lady-erections.

Mahdawi, Arwa. “Melania Trump Has a Memoir Coming out – and She’s Acting Pretty Strangely.” The Guardian, 17 Sept. 2024. Opinion. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/17/melania-trump-memoir-coming-out-acting-pretty-strangely.

“Melania Trump British GQ January 2000.” WorthPoint, https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/melania-trump-british-gq-january-2000-1852527001.

@MELANIATRUMP. “Melania Trump Speaks about Her Nude Modeling Work…” X, 18 Sept. 2024, https://x.com/MELANIAJTRUMP/status/1836382235236212768.

Neely, Samantha. “Is ‘Melania’ Movie Streaming on Netflix or Hulu? Where to Watch.” The Palm Beach Post, 20 Feb. 2026, [https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/trump/2026/02/20/melania-documentary-when-stream-amazon-movie-review/88774559007/ “https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/trump/2026/02/20/melania-documentary-when-stream-amazon-movie-review/88774559007/”).

Rogers, Katie. “Melania Trump Defends Nude Modeling Work as She Promotes Book.” The New York Times, 18 Sept. 2024, [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/18/us/politics/melania-trump-nude-modeling.html “https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/18/us/politics/melania-trump-nude-modeling.html”).