Melania Trump seeks sanctions against journalist Michael Wolff after court victory
Melania Trump isn’t finished battling journalist Michael Wolff in court.
Just two months after a federal judge threw out the author’s lawsuit against her, the first lady is now asking the court to sanction Wolff and his attorney, arguing they abused the legal system to wage a publicity campaign.
In a new motion filed on July 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and obtained by Wonderwall.com, the first lady’s attorneys asked Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil to order Wolff and his lawyer to pay her attorneys’ fees and litigation costs, along with monetary penalties and any other sanctions the court finds appropriate.
First lady wants Wolff to pay damages
Her attorneys argue Wolff and his attorney violated Rule 11, which prohibits lawyers from filing frivolous claims, and cite a federal statute that allows courts to sanction lawyers who unnecessarily prolong litigation.
The sanctions request follows the judge’s May decision dismissing Wolff’s lawsuit, which sought declarations that his public statements about President Donald Trump‘s wife were not defamatory and that any lawsuit she later filed would be barred under New York’s anti-SLAPP law.
In her May ruling, the judge rebuked the writer’s strategy, calling it a “textbook bad-faith forum-shopping” effort and an “abuse of the Declaratory Judgment Act,” finding he improperly attempted to secure a favorable ruling before Melania had even filed her anticipated defamation lawsuit.
Fundraising drive claim
According to the motion, the Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House author’s lawsuit was designed to generate publicity and fundraising rather than resolve a legitimate legal dispute.
The filing says Melania’s attorneys sent Michael a demand letter in October 2025 seeking a retraction and apology for his statements linking her to predator Jeffrey Epstein. Michael had made statements on a podcast and to The Daily Beast suggesting Melania was in the disgraced financier’s social circle and was connected to how she met her husband.
Instead of responding, the motion says, Michael filed suit in New York state court days later in an effort to control where the dispute would be litigated.
‘The salacious speculation of tabloid headlines’
The filing further accuses Wolff of promoting the lawsuit across his media platforms while raising more than $836,000 through an online fundraising campaign tied to the litigation.
The motion also accuses Michael and his attorney of making unsupported claims about Melania’s marriage, family and residency in an effort to persuade the court she remained a New York resident despite records showing she had established Florida as her domicile.
According to the filing, those arguments prompted the judge to describe portions of the complaint as “the salacious speculation of tabloid headlines” and criticize them as unsupported.
Sanctions demand
Melania’s motion asks the court to order Michael and his attorney to reimburse her legal fees, impose monetary penalties and issue any additional sanctions the judge considers appropriate.
The judge has not ruled on the request. Michael and his attorney will have an opportunity to respond before the court decides whether sanctions are warranted.
The latest filing comes as Wolff has continued writing about the first lady.
In a July post on his Substack, HOWL, the author claimed White House staffers are “afraid of Melania Trump and her power — that is, if she chooses to use it” and described her as the one person neither the president nor his staff can control in his administration.