Amanda Ungaro has revealed her plans to take her feud with Melania Trump to CNN International, days after viral X posts warned the US First Lady to 'be careful with me' and were followed by a White House denial of any links to Jeffrey Epstein.
Responding to an X user who asked when she was 'spilling the tea' on Melania Trump, the 41-year-old Brazilian former model wrote from her verified @AmandaUngaroA account: 'Yes soon cnn international.' However, CNN has not publicly confirmed the booking or a broadcast date with Ungaro.
If the interview airs, it will be Ungaro's first broadcast sit-down on a major US network, following a blitz of claims made in Brazilian and Spanish media and on her own social media.
The row erupted on 9 April, when a series of replies appeared under an archived post on Melania Trump's former @FLOTUS45 account.
'I have nothing left to lose in my life. I will tear down the entire system. Be careful with me b****,' read one of the since-deleted messages, according to screenshots of posts that were later deleted.
Another warned: 'Maybe you should be afraid of what I know. Of who you are, and who your husband is.'
Hours later, the First Lady walked into the Grand Foyer of the White House and rejected any connection to Epstein, saying she had never flown on his plane, never visited his island and was 'not Epstein's victim.' She called the allegations 'lies' and said they needed to 'end today.'
Who Is Amanda Ungaro And How Melania Trump Knows Her
Ungaro, born in Londrina, in southern Brazil, said she arrived in New York at age 17 in 2002. In her interviews, she claimed to have flown in on Epstein's so-called 'Lolita Express' with her then-agent, Jean-Luc Brunel, who was later charged in the Epstein case and died by suicide in a Paris prison in 2022.
She spent two decades in the US with Paolo Zampolli, the Italian-American businessman and former UN ambassador for Dominica who introduced Donald Trump to Melania Knauss at New York's Kit Kat Club in 1998. Zampolli was named Trump's special envoy for global partnerships in March 2025. Zampolli and Ungaro, who share a 16-year-old son, got separated in 2023 and are now locked in a cross-border custody battle.
Ungaro detailed her ordeal in an interview with El País on 12 April. She alleged that she was placed in a cell with 'child murderers' after her arrest, later held in a windowless hall with more than 120 other detainees, and landed in Brazil in a prison uniform.
Arrest, ICE Custody, and Zampolli's Role in Ungaro's Deportation
Ungaro and her husband, a Brazilian physician, were arrested at their Aventura, Florida, home in June 2025 after an anonymous tip about an allegedly unlicensed cosmetic clinic. Both were charged with fraud. Her husband, who holds a US green card, was released on bail. Ungaro, whose last temporary visa had expired in 2019, was transferred into ICE custody and later deported to Brazil in October 2025 after being held in multiple facilities.
The New York Times reported on 20 March that Zampolli had contacted David Venturella, a senior ICE official, shortly after her arrest. Venturella then called the agency's Miami field office, telling agents the case mattered to someone close to the White House and asking that Ungaro be picked up before she could post bail, the paper reported. The Department of Homeland Security told the Times her removal was based solely on her expired visa and the fraud charges, and denied any political interference.
In a telephonic interview with The Daily Beast on 10 April, Zampolli called Ungaro 'a criminal and a psychopath' and said he did not believe the First Lady had spoken to his former partner in over a decade. He also said his call to Venturella was informational.
A spokesperson for Melania Trump has said the First Lady has no knowledge of the personal affairs of Ungaro and Zampolli and had no contact with ICE.
Ungaro has not publicly outlined what she plans to say on air. Neither the White House nor her lawyer has commented on whether new allegations will be aired.
