President Donald Trump, center right, and first lady Melania Trump walk, center left, walk with Jason Hing, chief deputy of emergency services at the Los Angles Fire Department, left, and Capt. Jeff Brown, Chief of Station 69, as they tour the Pacific Palisades neighborhood affected by recent wildfires in Los Angeles, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
President Donald Trump, center right, and first lady Melania Trump walk, center left, walk with Jason Hing, chief deputy of emergency services at the Los Angles Fire Department, left, and Capt. Jeff Brown, Chief of Station 69, as they tour the Pacific Palisades neighborhood affected by recent wildfires in Los Angeles, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
FILE - Hunter Biden listens while his father, President Joe Biden, speaks during a Hanukkah reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Melania Trump demanded that Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and threatened to sue if he does not.
Trump takes issue with two comments Biden, son of former President Joe Biden, made in an interview this month with American journalist Andrew Callaghan. He alleged that Epstein introduced the first lady to now-President Donald Trump.
The statements are false, defamatory and “extremely salacious,†Melania Trump's lawyer, Alejandro Brito, wrote in a letter to Biden. Biden's remarks were widely disseminated on social media and reported by media outlets around the world, causing the first lady “to suffer overwhelming financial and reputational harm,†he wrote.
Biden made the Epstein comments during a sprawling interview in which he at “elites†and others in the Democratic Party he says undermined his father before he dropped out of last year's presidential campaign.
“Epstein introduced Melania to Trump. The connections are, like, so wide and deep,†Biden said in one of the comments Trump disputes. Biden attributed the claim to author Michael Wolff, whom Trump in June as a “Third Rate Reporter.†He has accused Wolff of making up stories to sell books.
The first lady's threats echo a favored strategy of her husband, who has aggressively used litigation to go after critics. Public figures like the Trumps face a high bar to succeed in a defamation lawsuit.
The president and first lady have long said they were introduced by Paolo Zampolli, a modeling agent, at a New York Fashion Week party in 1998.
The letter is dated Aug. 6 and was Wednesday by Fox News Digital.
Abbe Lowell, a lawyer who has represented Biden in his criminal cases and to whom Brito's letter is addressed, did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.
___
This story was first published on Aug. 13, 2025. It was updated on Aug. 14, 2025, to correct the citizenship of journalist Andrew Callaghan. He is American, not British.
The ºÃÉ«tv Press. All rights reserved.
A year ago, Mac Bauer and his wife boarded a streetcar in Toronto’s Leslieville ne…
The Vancouver Whitecaps' newest star has landed, with Thomas Muller arriving in Va…
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
