Claim:
A photo purportedly shows future US first lady Melania Trump, then Melania Knauss, posing partially nude for late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s modeling photos on an airplane.
Rating:
Rating: Incorrect caption
Throughout November 2025, a meme circulated online featuring a one-year-old photo of future US first lady Melania Trump, then Melania Knauss, posing partially n*de for late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s airplane modeling photos.
Several Facebook users posted the image ( archived , archived ), which included overlaid text reading, “Fun fact: This famous photo of first lady Melania Trump was taken on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane.”
(Facebook user Adrienne Davie)
The meme appeared elsewhere on Facebook (archived) and on Bluesky (archived), Instagram (archived), TikTok (archived) and X (archived).
Snopes received inquiries about the rumor via email and a post from a reader in our Snopes Tips Facebook group, who asked, “Is it Melania? Was she on Epstein’s plane?”
In short, users shared a photo of an authentic Melania Trump but captions that were false, so we rated the claim as falsely captioned. The photo was real and not manipulated with artificial intelligence or other image-editing software. The January 2000 issue of GQ magazine credited photographer Antoine Verglass with photographing President Donald Trump in a former Boeing 727 — not the plane owned by Epstein.
We also reached out to the first lady’s spokeswoman and Verglass to ask about the matter. We will update this article if we receive more information.
GQ republished the photos in 2016
On November 8, 2016 – the date of Donald Trump’s first election day victory – GQ again reported on the photos from the photo shoot for the January 2000 issue, noting where Verglas took the photos:
Sixteen years ago we profiled Donald Trump’s then-girlfriend, Melania Knauss. Now his wife, Melania, is seen in our nude profile shoot in her customized Boeing 727, handcuffed, carrying diamonds and carrying a chrome pistol (this was the lads mag era). Considering Donald Trump’s success in the US election, it makes for some interesting reading today…
[…]
“We were bombarded with requests to shoot Melania,” said GQ editor Dylan Jones, when we asked about a shoot with Melania Trump in January 2000, after we dug through the archives in March 2016 and published the photos online. “She was apparently so keen to be featured in GQ, we’ve had story after story in her camp.” Donald Trump has also requested that photos be sent to his office. “We framed a selection of covers and prints and sent them as soon as possible.”
The Worthpoint antiques, art and collectibles archive company hosted images from the original print edition of the January 2000 issue of GQ, including a photo showing a photo caption mentioning Trump’s Boeing 727 as the location of the shoot.
Melania Trump defends modeling photos
In September 2024, Melania Trump – prior to the release of her memoir, “Melania” – shared a statement (archived) defending her n*de modeling photos on social media. The statement read:
Melania Trump talks about her N*D modeling career:
“Why can I stand proudly behind my n*de modeling work? The more pressing question is this – 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 honored the human form, using deep emotion and the traditions of time. We must honor our traditions and traditions. Art as a powerful means of self-expression.”
He also shared a video (archived) in which he read the words of the statement:
For more reading, we previously reported on rumors that Melania Trump acted 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?” Palm Beach Post20 June 2011, https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/politics/2011/06/20/what-happened-to-donald-trump/7271008007/.
GQ. “Melania Trump – First Lady in Our Nude Photo Shoot.” British GQ8 November 2016, https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/donald-trump-melania-trump-knauss-first-lady-erections.
Mahdavi, Arawa. “Melania Trump has a memoir coming out — and she’s acting very strange.” The Guardian17 September 2024. opinion The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/17/melania-trump-memoir-coming-out-acting-pretty-strangely.
“Melania Trump British GQ January 2000.” Worthpointhttps://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/melania-trump-british-gq-january-2000-1852527001.
@MELANIATRUMP. “Melania Trump opens up about her nude modeling job…” X18 September 2024, https://x.com/MELANIAJTRUMP/status/1836382235236212768.
Rogers, Katie. “Melania Trump Defends Nude Modeling While Promoting Book”. The New York Times18 Sept. 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/18/us/politics/melania-trump-nude-modeling.html.
