Melania Trump refused to sit quietly while critics attacked her reputation.
One journalist crossed a line and turned the tables on her.
And Melania Trump was hit with a lawsuit over this awful Jeffrey Epstein claim.
Michael Wolff made explosive claims linking Melania to Jeffrey Epstein
Journalist Michael Wolff has made a career writing controversial books that act as hit pieces against the Trump family.
His 2018 bestseller Fire and Fury turned him into a household name among Trump haters despite widespread questions about his accuracy.
But Wolff’s latest move landed him in legal hot water.
During a July interview with The Daily Beast, Wolff claimed Melania Trump was "very involved" in Jeffrey Epstein’s social circle and suggested the convicted sex offender introduced her to Donald Trump.¹
"She’s introduced by a model agent, both of whom Trump and Epstein are involved with," Wolff alleged. "She’s introduced to Trump that way. Epstein [knew] her well."²
The Daily Beast ran with Wolff’s claims under the headline "Melania Trump ‘Very Involved’ in Epstein Scandal: Author."³
Those allegations spread like wildfire across social media and mainstream outlets.
But Wolff’s version of events contradicted Melania’s published account in her 2024 memoir where she detailed meeting Trump at a Fashion Week party in New York City in 1998 through a modeling agent.⁴
Melania’s legal team demanded immediate retractions from multiple outlets
The First Lady wasn’t about to let false claims about her connection to a pedophile go unanswered.
Melania’s attorney Alejandro Brito sent cease-and-desist letters demanding immediate retractions to anyone who repeated Wolff’s allegations.
The Daily Beast folded within days.
The outlet completely scrubbed its article and issued a groveling apology stating the story "did not meet our standards" after receiving a letter from Melania’s lawyers.⁵
The publication also removed portions of a podcast episode featuring Wolff’s claims.
Hunter Biden received a similar letter after he repeated the allegations during an interview with YouTuber Andrew Callaghan.⁶
Melania’s attorneys promised to "initiate legal action for over $1 billion in damages" if Biden failed to retract his statements and apologize.⁷
Even prominent Democrats scrambled to distance themselves from the claims.
This aggressive legal strategy represented a major shift for the typically reserved First Lady who generally stays out of public controversies.
But Melania made clear she wouldn’t tolerate anyone falsely linking her to the Epstein scandal.
Wolff filed a preemptive lawsuit claiming Melania is trying to silence him
Instead of backing down, Wolff decided to sue Melania first.
On October 21, Wolff filed a lawsuit in Manhattan court accusing the First Lady of trying to block publication of his upcoming book The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump (Redux).⁸
Wolff argues in his complaint that he’s done nothing to defame Melania because he didn’t write The Daily Beast article or headline and claims some of his statements were taken out of context.⁹
The journalist alleges Melania "deliberately and maliciously" spread false claims that he fabricated interviews and intimidated sources.¹⁰
According to Wolff, these allegations caused international distributors to withdraw from his book deal, costing him millions.¹¹
He’s asking a judge to declare his book content isn’t defamatory and to hold Melania liable for damages if she continues trying to block publication.¹²
Wolff claims the First Lady personally directed a public relations firm to threaten media outlets with legal action if they promoted his book.¹³
His lawsuit invokes New York’s anti-SLAPP law, which prevents powerful people from using litigation to silence journalists.¹⁴
"These threatened legal actions are designed to create a climate of fear in the nation so that people cannot freely or confidently exercise their First Amendment rights," Wolff’s complaint states.¹⁵
Wolff has a documented history of disputed claims and factual errors
Wolff positioning himself as a First Amendment martyr is rich considering his track record.
His 2018 book Fire and Fury faced widespread criticism for numerous factual errors and disputed quotes.
Several people named in the book, including Tom Barrack, Tony Blair, and Sean Hannity, flatly denied quotes Wolff attributed to them.¹⁶
During interviews promoting the book, Wolff claimed he was "absolutely sure" Trump was having an affair and suggested it was with Nikki Haley.¹⁷
He later admitted, "I do not know if the president is having an affair."¹⁸
Washington Post columnist Erik Wemple called Wolff’s work "a remarkable multimedia slime job."¹⁹
Journalist Steven Rattner called Wolff "an unprincipled writer of fiction."²⁰
Meghan McCain blasted him on The View for publishing private conversations he promised to keep off the record.²¹
Trump’s Communications Director Steven Cheung didn’t mince words: "a lying sack of s*** and has been proven to be a fraud."²²
Sarah Huckabee Sanders ripped Fire and Fury as "mistake after mistake after mistake" and dismissed it as "tabloid gossip full of lies."²³
Wolff insists he has recordings backing up his claims. The track record tells a different story.
Media outlets folded fast when Trump turned the legal tables
Look what’s happened since Trump started fighting back in court.
Paramount handed Trump $16 million in July to make his 60 Minutes lawsuit go away.²⁴ ABC News cut a $15 million check to Trump’s presidential library and apologized after getting sued over George Stephanopoulos’s lies about the E. Jean Carroll verdict.²⁵
The Wall Street Journal and New York Times are both staring down Trump lawsuits right now.²⁶
The Daily Beast killed the Melania-Epstein story within days of getting Melania’s letter. That tells you how confident they were in Wolff’s reporting.
Wolff claims Trump and Melania are creating a "climate of fear" to silence the press.²⁷
Here’s the thing – retracting lies about the First Lady sleeping with her husband on a pedophile’s private jet isn’t censorship.
It’s called not publishing defamatory lies.
Melania has every right to defend her reputation against false allegations linking her to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes.
Wolff built his career on disputed claims and sensational allegations that publishers rushed into print because they reflected poorly on Trump.
Now he’s discovering the First Lady won’t tolerate journalists spreading lies about her ties to a convicted sex trafficker.
And his preemptive lawsuit looks like a desperate attempt to avoid accountability for false claims that multiple outlets have already retracted.
¹ Michael Wolff, quoted in "Melania Trump ‘Very Involved’ in Epstein Scandal: Author," The Daily Beast, July 26, 2025 (retracted).
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Melania Trump, Melania: A Memoir (New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2024).
⁵ Editor’s Note, The Daily Beast, August 1, 2025.
⁶ "First lady Melania Trump puts Hunter Biden on $1B notice," Fox News Digital, August 13, 2025.
⁷ Alejandro Brito, letter to Hunter Biden, August 6, 2025.
⁸ "Michael Wolff sues Melania Trump," New York Daily News, October 21, 2025.
⁹ Michael Wolff v. Melania Trump, Complaint, Manhattan Supreme Court, October 21, 2025.
¹⁰ Ibid.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² Ibid.
¹³ Ibid.
¹⁴ Ibid.
¹⁵ Ibid.
¹⁶ "Fire and Fury," Wikipedia, accessed October 22, 2025.
¹⁷ Ibid.
¹⁸ Ibid.
¹⁹ Ibid.
²⁰ "Michael Wolff (journalist)," Wikipedia, accessed October 22, 2025.
²¹ Ibid.
²² "Melania Trump Faces Defamation Suit," Newsweek, February 25, 2025.
²³ Ibid.
²⁴ "Paramount to Pay Trump $16 Million," Variety, July 2, 2025.
²⁵ "E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump," Wikipedia, accessed October 22, 2025.
²⁶ "Michael Wolff sues Melania Trump," New York Daily News, October 21, 2025.
²⁷ Michael Wolff v. Melania Trump, Complaint, Manhattan Supreme Court, October 21, 2025.
