New York — A judge on Friday dismissed author Michael Wolff’s lawsuit against the first lady Melania TrumpShe ruled that his “twisted” attempt prevents her from suing him for a billion dollars over his statements about her and her Jeffrey Epstein “That’s not how federal courts work.”
Judge Mary Kay Viskocel in federal court in Manhattan criticized both sides for an “inadequate level of tactical skill” and said she “would not be enlisted to oversee a dispute that was arbitrarily presented.”
Viskocel, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, agreed that Wolf and the first lady “have a real dispute,” but said “they should litigate it under the same procedures as anyone else.”
Wolff filed a lawsuit against Melania Trump last October, after her lawyer Alejandro Brito told him in a letter that she “would have no alternative” but to sue him if he did not retract statements that the lawyer said caused “enormous damage to her reputation and finances.”
Wolf originally filed the lawsuit in state court in New York. Brito then transferred it to federal court. In her 45-page decision, Viskocel said that although the federal court has jurisdiction, it refuses to exercise it and “dismisses this case to be litigated like any other.”
Messages seeking comment were left with the first lady’s office and Britto Wolf’s attorney.
In April, Melania Trump made a statement at the White House denying any affiliation with Epstein, the millionaire financier and convicted sex offender who committed suicide in prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Reading prepared remarks, the first lady said she and her lawyers are fighting “baseless lies” suggesting she had ties to Epstein.
“The lies linking me to the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein must end today,” Melania Trump said. “People who lie to me are devoid of moral standards, humility and respect. I do not object to their ignorance, but I reject their despicable attempts to discredit me.”
In his lawsuit, Wolf said the Trumps “have resorted to threatening those who speak out against them” with costly legal action “to silence their rhetoric, generally intimidate their critics, and extract unjustified North Korean-style payments, confessions, and apologies.”
He said the threats were “designed to create a climate of fear in the nation so that people cannot freely or confidently exercise their First Amendment rights.”
Wolf has published dozens of books, including four bestsellers about the president.
Wolf said in the lawsuit that Melania Trump’s threat to sue him was related to statements he made to The Daily Beast and in three social media videos. He said that some of the statements were incomplete statements and were taken out of context.
Others were protected by freedom of expression, the lawsuit said. For example, the statement that the Trump family was in a “sham, trophy marriage” was a “fair and justified” statement of opinion.
The lawsuit noted that Wolf never said that Melania Trump was involved in any of Epstein’s crimes.
In July 2025, after receiving a letter from Brito, The Daily Beast retracted an article titled “Melania Trump Deeply Involved in Epstein Scandal: Author,” which was based on an interview with Wolff.
In his lawsuit, Wolf said his comments related to the first lady’s “involvement” last year in running the matter “behind the scenes” in the White House — not that she was involved in any of Epstein’s crimes.
Other statements Wolff said were true included comments he made about Melania Trump meeting Donald Trump in Epstein’s social circle, and that Donald Trump liked to have sex with his friend’s wives and first slept with Melania Trump on Epstein’s private plane.