A federal judge has dismissed author and journalist Michael Wolff’s preemptive lawsuit against First Lady Melania Trump, ruling that he could not use the federal courts to obtain an advance determination that statements he made about her were not defamatory.
U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil of the Southern District of New York issued the 45-page decision on May 22, 2026. Although she concluded that the federal court had jurisdiction over the dispute, she declined to exercise that jurisdiction under the doctrine of prudential abstention. The court said the parties should litigate any actual defamation dispute through the ordinary legal process rather than attempting to resolve it in advance.
Vyskocil described the case as involving an “inappropriate level of tactical gamesmanship” and said the court would not be drawn into what she characterized as an improperly presented dispute. She emphasized that Wolff was essentially asking the court to determine that he should prevail if Melania Trump eventually sued him for defamation.
The dispute arose after statements by Wolff concerning Melania Trump and Jeffrey Epstein. Trump’s attorney, Alejandro Brito, sent Wolff a demand letter warning that the first lady could pursue a defamation lawsuit if the statements were not withdrawn. The threatened lawsuit was described as potentially seeking more than $1 billion in damages.
Wolff subsequently filed a lawsuit seeking, among other relief, a declaration concerning his statements and protection under New York’s anti-SLAPP law. Melania Trump’s attorneys successfully removed the case from New York state court to federal court and later sought dismissal.
Judge Vyskocil determined that the federal court had subject-matter jurisdiction because the parties were citizens of different states and the amount at issue satisfied the applicable jurisdictional threshold. However, the judge ultimately declined to resolve the underlying merits and dismissed the case so that any future dispute could proceed through conventional litigation.
The ruling therefore did not determine whether Wolff’s statements were true, false, defamatory or constitutionally protected. Instead, it addressed whether his preemptive lawsuit was an appropriate vehicle for obtaining a ruling before an actual defamation action had been filed.
A spokesperson for Melania Trump welcomed the decision, saying the first lady would continue challenging what she described as defamatory statements about her. Wolff, meanwhile, has argued that the legal pressure against him represents an effort to intimidate critics.
The case is not necessarily over. On June 18, 2026, Wolff filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, challenging the district court’s dismissal.
The appellate proceedings could therefore determine whether the district court’s dismissal stands. For now, however, Judge Vyskocil’s ruling leaves the underlying defamation dispute unresolved and makes clear that Wolff cannot obtain an advance federal judgment protecting him from a lawsuit that Melania Trump has not yet filed.
