When and where did Paolo Zampolli introduce Jeffrey Epstein to Donald Trump?

1. The basic timeline journalists cite: a 1998 Fashion Week party

Most contemporary and retrospective accounts place the first meeting between Donald Trump and Melania Knauss in 1998 at a Fashion Week-era party — commonly identified as the Kit Kat Club event — which Paolo Zampolli is reported to have hosted and where Zampolli himself has said he “introduced” the couple ^{[1] [2] [5]}.

2. Zampolli’s public claim: he facilitated the meeting and helped Melania emigrate

Multiple outlets record that Zampolli has taken credit for discovering Melania in Milan, securing her visa to the U.S., and facilitating her introduction to Trump at that 1998 party; NewsNation reported Trump himself initially told reporters that Zampolli introduced them when their dating became public ^{[2] [6] [7]}.

3. The competing claim from Jeffrey Epstein and why it matters

Jeffrey Epstein is reported to have later claimed he introduced Trump to Melania; that claim was publicized in reporting and in recordings cited by biographer Michael Wolff. Epstein’s assertion directly conflicts with Zampolli’s and the Trumps’ account and is the source of renewed attention and controversy ^{[3] [4] [8]}.

4. What biographer Michael Wolff alleges and how outlets treated it

Michael Wolff told The Daily Beast podcast that Melania was introduced to Trump via social circles that included Epstein and that Zampolli — who helped Melania come to the U.S. — was part of that network. News coverage conveyed Wolff’s claim while also noting that Melania has denied Epstein’s role ^{[4] [8]}.

5. Fact-checking perspective and unresolved elements

Fact-checking accounts and major reporting emphasize the dispute: Snopes and other outlets point out that Zampolli has long claimed credit for the meeting and that Epstein’s competing account originates with Epstein himself and lacks independent corroboration in the materials cited ^[1]. Available sources do not present definitive contemporaneous documentation proving Epstein made the introduction; they document the disagreement between Zampolli’s version and Epstein’s claim ^{[1] [5]}.

6. How the Trumps responded and legal pushback

Melania and Donald Trump have denied that Epstein introduced them. The family has pushed back publicly against suggestions tying Epstein to the introduction; later public disputes (including threats of lawsuits in other related controversies) reflect the Trumps’ insistence that a modeling agent — identified as Zampolli — was the introducer ^{[5] [9]}.

7. Broader context: overlapping social circles and photos

Reporting notes Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, Zampolli, Trump and Melania moved in overlapping social circles around the late 1990s and into the 2000s; for example, published photos place Melania, Trump, Epstein and Maxwell together at Mar-a-Lago in 2000, which reporters use to show social proximity even if those images do not prove who initiated the introduction ^{[3] [10]}.

8. What remains unknown or unproven in available reporting

The sources provided do not produce contemporaneous, independent documentation conclusively proving Epstein introduced Trump to Melania; they instead record competing oral accounts (Epstein’s claim, Zampolli’s claim, and the Trumps’ denials) and commentary from Wolff and other journalists ^{[1] [4] [2]}. Available sources do not mention any police, legal, or immigration records that settle the question.

Conclusion — what to take away

Reporting establishes that Paolo Zampolli and the New York Fashion Week/Kit Kat Club party in 1998 are the most consistently cited origin story for the Trumps’ meeting ^{[1] [2]}. Epstein’s later, contradictory claim and Wolff’s framing have amplified the dispute, but current reporting in these sources records the disagreement rather than providing a document that definitively proves one account over the other ^{[4] [3] [1]}.