A former beauty queen who alleges Donald Trump groped her at a 1993 pageant has claimed the president’s first wife, Ivana, funneled young women into Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit the same way Ghislaine Maxwell did, in the final part of an exclusive three-part interview with the Daily Beast’s new Substack, PunchUp.
Beatrice Keul, 55, alleges Ivana Trump operated as a reassuring presence at high-end events where Epstein’s circle could scout and later isolate women.
“Ivana played a major role in this whole cosmos, bringing in women in the same way as Maxwell,” the former Miss Switzerland and Miss Europe contestant told PunchUp.
“Was Maxwell a madam or an enabler? However you would describe her, Ivana was the same.”
PunchUp says it has not independently verified the claims about Ivana and has seen no evidence she knew of or took part in any crimes.
Ivana—mother to Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric—died in 2022 at the age of 73. She was never charged with any Epstein-related offense.
PunchUp previously reported Keul’s claims that Trump, then 47, assaulted her at his Donald J. Trump American Dream Pageant when she was a 23-year-old banking executive and model, and threatened her if she spoke out. She has also claimed that Epstein told her she was his intended “prey.”
Trump has denied all allegations of assault or harassment, calling them “unequivocally false” and insisting he has “never met” some of his accusers.
The White House said Trump “has been totally exonerated on anything relating to Epstein.”
Maxwell, convicted in 2021 of recruiting and abusing girls, is serving 20 years in prison. PunchUp contacted Maxwell’s representatives, who did not respond.
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