A federal judge in Manhattan has dismissed author and journalist Michael Wolff’s preemptive lawsuit against First Lady Melania Trump, sharply criticizing his legal strategy while declining to rule on the underlying defamation dispute.
In a 45-page opinion issued on May 22, 2026, U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil said the parties had a genuine disagreement but emphasized that it must be handled through ordinary legal procedures. The judge described the case as involving an “inappropriate level of tactical gamesmanship” and said she would not allow the court to become involved in what she called “an abusively presented spat.” (Court ruling; Associated Press report)
“Plaintiff asks for a declaration that, if the First Lady sues him, he deserves to win. That is not how the federal courts work,” Vyskocil wrote.
The ruling was a procedural setback for Wolff. It did not determine whether the disputed statements were defamatory or establish the truth of the allegations surrounding the parties’ disagreement.
Why Michael Wolff Filed the Lawsuit
The case followed a legal demand from Melania Trump’s attorney, Alejandro Brito, who called on Wolff to retract statements connecting the first lady to Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and convicted sex offender who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.
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