Paolo Zampolli, a longtime friend of President Donald Trump and a former modeling agent who introduced Trump to Melania Trump, asked a senior ICE official to detain and deport the mother of his child while they were in a custody battle, according to a New York Times report.
The report stated that Zampolli learned his former partner, Brazilian model Amanda Ungaro, was in a Miami jail after being arrested on fraud-related charges connected to her job. The Times reported that Zampolli contacted David Venturella, a top ICE official, and explained that Ungaro was in the United States illegally. He wanted her placed in immigration detention, which could improve his position in the dispute over their teenage son.
NYT reported that Zampolli “saw an opportunity” after finding out Ungaro was in jail and said Venturella then called ICE’s Miami office to ensure agents picked up Ungaro before she could be released on bail. During that call, Venturella allegedly said the case was important to someone close to the White House. Ungaro was later placed in ICE custody and deported.
Ungaro told the Times, “It’s devastating that they could have affected what happened to me.” The same report indicated that she told the newspaper Zampolli had for years offered the possibility of marriage and legal status in the United States, only to take it away. Her last temporary visa expired in 2019, the report noted.
New reports reveal Trump’s friend Paolo Zampolli, who appears several times in the Epstein Files, asked a top ICE official to detain his ex-wife and mother of his kids.
ICE did as Zampolli asked, and she was ultimately deported. pic.twitter.com/kZ6XAs6GUN
— FactPost (@factpostnews) March 20, 2026
Zampolli denied knowing how the immigration process worked, telling the publication, “I asked David what was going on because I did not know the process.” The Department of Homeland Security denied that politics or favors influenced the removal.
In a statement, the department said, “Any suggestion that she was arrested and removed for political reasons or favors is FALSE.” DHS also stated that Ungaro and her son with Zampolli are now together in Brazil.
A spokesperson for first lady Melania Trump told the Times that she “has no knowledge of, nor involvement in, the personal affairs of Mr. Zampoli and Ms. Ungaro,” and said she has no contact with ICE. The report says the White House directed questions to DHS
Paolo Zampolli founded ID Model Management and ran in the same social circles as Jeffrey Epstein, even running a charity with Ghislaine Maxwell. Zampolli claims he introduced Melania to Donald at the Kit Kat Club in NY. He had facilitated her move to the U.S. from Slovenia after… pic.twitter.com/j0QkEhv2qG
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) March 12, 2025
Zampolli is still part of the Trump administration as a presidential special envoy for global partnerships, a role mentioned in recent U.S. Embassy releases.
His relationship with the Trump family goes back decades. He has long been described as a close friend of both Donald and Melania Trump, and public accounts credit him with introducing the future first couple in New York in the late 1990s.
These allegations are serious and lead to questions about corruption in the immigration force, which has faced criticism from legal groups over family separations and deportations of parents with children in the United States. In this case, the main accusation is not about public policy but whether a politically connected Trump ally tried to use federal immigration power to resolve a private dispute.
