First lady Melania Trump is demanding that Hunter Biden retract remarks linking her to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and is threatening to sue if he does not, according to a letter from her attorney.
In an interview published this month with journalist Andrew Callaghan, Biden alleged that Epstein introduced Melania to then–real estate developer Donald Trump—an assertion Biden attributed to author Michael Wolff. In an Aug. 6 demand letter first reported by Fox News Digital, attorney Alejandro Brito called the statements “false,” “defamatory,” and “extremely salacious,” saying their wide circulation caused the first lady “overwhelming financial and reputational harm.”
The Trumps have long maintained that Melania and Donald met in 1998 at a New York Fashion Week party hosted by modeling agent Paolo Zampolli. Wolff’s reporting has been sharply disputed by the Trumps in the past; in June, Donald Trump dismissed him as a “third-rate reporter.”
Brito’s letter, addressed to Abbe Lowell—who represents Hunter Biden in his criminal matters—demands a retraction and apology. Public figures face a high bar in U.S. defamation law and must generally prove “actual malice,” meaning the speaker knew a statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. Lowell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The first lady’s legal threat mirrors a familiar tactic in Donald Trump’s orbit, where litigation and threat-of-litigation have often been used to challenge critics and force clarifications. Whether the dispute moves beyond a demand letter is unclear; the White House did not immediately comment on any further legal steps Melania Trump plans to take.
