First Lady Melania Trump has threatened legal action seeking more than $1 billion in damages against Hunter Biden, son of former U.S. President Joe Biden, over his public claim that she was introduced to her husband, former President Donald Trump, by the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In a legal letter sent to Hunter Biden’s attorney, counsel for the First Lady described the allegation as “false, disparaging, defamatory, and inflammatory,” demanding an immediate retraction and formal apology. The letter asserts that the comments, made during an interview earlier this month, have caused Mrs. Trump “overwhelming financial and reputational harm.”
Hunter Biden, however, has refused to withdraw his remarks, telling interviewer Andrew Callaghan that an apology is “not going to happen” and characterizing the legal threat as “a designed distraction.” He suggested that, if sued, he would use the opportunity to depose both Donald and Melania Trump under oath.
The disputed statement came during a wide-ranging discussion in which Biden claimed unreleased Epstein-related documents would “implicate” former President Trump, further alleging that “Epstein introduced Melania to Trump.” The First Lady’s attorneys contend Biden relied on a now-retracted Daily Beast article partially citing journalist Michael Wolff, whose reporting linked her to an associate of both Epstein and Trump.
The Daily Beast later removed the article, issuing a public apology after receiving a legal demand from Mrs. Trump’s counsel challenging both the headline and its framing.
While Donald Trump has acknowledged knowing Epstein, he has maintained that they fell out in the early 2000s over a business dispute. There is no credible evidence supporting Biden’s claim that Epstein introduced the Trumps.
The dispute comes amid renewed political and media interest in the so-called “Epstein files,” with advocates pressing the federal government to release documents from the criminal investigation. The Justice Department has stated no “incriminating” client list exists.
The First Lady’s legal representative, Alejandro Brito, has confirmed that her legal team is “actively ensuring immediate retractions and apologies by those who spread malicious, defamatory falsehoods.”
