First lady Melania Trump speaks during an event for military mothers in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge on Friday threw out author Michael Wolff’s lawsuit against first lady Melania Trump, ruling that his “contorted” attempt to prevent her from suing him for $1 billion over his statements about her and Jeffrey Epstein “is not how the federal courts work.”
Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil in federal court in Manhattan chided both sides for an “inappropriate level of tactical gamesmanship” and said she “will not be conscripted to oversee an abusively presented spat.”
Vyskocil, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, agreed that Wolff and the first lady “have a real dispute,” but said “they must litigate it according to the same procedures as everyone else.”
Wolff sued Melania Trump last October after her lawyer, Alejandro Brito, told him in a letter that she would be “left with no alternative” but to sue him if he didn’t retract statements that the lawyer said had caused her “overwhelming reputational and financial harm.”
