First Lady Melania Trump announced this week that she intends to sue Hunter Biden for $1 billion after he refused to retract and apologize for comments linking her introduction to President Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein.
The dispute has drawn national attention, with figures from across the political spectrum weighing in, including HBO host Bill Maher, who criticized Hunter Biden during his program on Friday.
The controversy began when Hunter Biden appeared on the Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan podcast and claimed, citing a Daily Beast report and author Michael Wolff, that Melania Trump was introduced to Donald Trump by Epstein.
BREAKING: First lady Melania Trump is putting Hunter Biden “on $1 Billion notice” over his “false and defamatory” comments, according to Fox News.
Melania Trump is threatening major legal action if Biden refuses to “immediately retract the false, defamatory, disparaging and… pic.twitter.com/IC3fpNsiJl
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 13, 2025
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The claim was quickly challenged, and the Daily Beast later retracted its story and issued an apology.
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Political strategist James Carville also deleted a podcast video where he repeated the claim and issued his own apology.
Despite those retractions, Hunter Biden defended his remarks. When confronted with a letter from Melania Trump’s attorney Alejandro Brito demanding a retraction, Hunter responded, “F**k that. That’s not going to happen,” during the podcast.
Hunter responds: “fuck that. That’s not going to happen”https://t.co/0AMuDBqrYA https://t.co/2EubenB0HQ pic.twitter.com/2F986cAv3W
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) August 14, 2025
He went on to say he would be willing to fight the matter in court, even though the process could cost “millions” of dollars.
Hunter Biden responds to Melania Trump’s billion dollar lawsuit threat: “If they want to sit down for a deposition and clarify the nature of the relationship between Jeffery Epstein, if the president & the first lady want to do that… I’m more than happy to provide them the… pic.twitter.com/z9zpC8L3ab
— Channel 5 (@Channel5iveNews) August 14, 2025
Brito had described Hunter’s remarks as “false, defamatory, and lewd.”
In the letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, he accused Hunter of publishing the claim to draw attention to himself: “Given your vast history of trading on the names of others—including your surname—for your personal benefit, it is obvious that you published these false and defamatory statements about Mrs. Trump to draw attention to yourself.”
President Trump strongly backed his wife’s decision to pursue legal action.
Speaking on Fox News Radio with host Brian Kilmeade on Thursday, he said, “I told her, let’s go ahead and do it. I let her use my lawyers. She was very upset about it.” Trump rejected the claim outright. “Jeffrey Epstein had nothing to do with Melania and introducing,” he said.
“But they do that to demean, they make up stories … I mean, I can tell you exactly how … it was another person, actually. I did meet through another person. But it wasn’t Jeffrey Epstein.”
The president also noted his track record in court against media outlets, saying, “I said go forward, you know, I’ve done pretty well on these lawsuits lately.”
Meanwhile, Bill Maher, speaking on his HBO show, reacted to the controversy with criticism directed at Hunter Biden.
“Melania says she’s gonna sue Hunter Biden,” Maher told his audience.
After explaining the context, he delivered a pointed joke at Hunter’s expense: “If Hunter loses, it’s going to be weird for him writing a woman a check because she’s not a prostitute.”
HOLY SMOKES: Bill Maher just ENDED Hunter Biden with a BRUTAL one-liner about First Lady Melania Trump suing him over his Epstein comments.
Okay, this one actually landed pretty hard and the audience ERUPTED for Bill.
“If Hunter loses, it’s going to be weird for him—writing a… pic.twitter.com/jOrQCUI9x8
— The Vigilant Fox (@VigilantFox) August 16, 2025
Maher has previously criticized efforts to downplay the Hunter Biden laptop story, calling the media suppression of it a “conspiracy to get rid of” Donald Trump in 2020.
The lawsuit over Hunter Biden’s comments is expected to be a high-profile legal battle.
While media outlets such as the Daily Beast have already withdrawn the false claim, Hunter has continued to stand by his comments, citing Wolff’s reporting and a 2019 New York Times article that noted Epstein had told people he introduced Trump to Melania.
As the legal proceedings develop, Melania Trump has made clear that she intends to pursue the matter to its fullest extent, with the president’s full support.
“She was very upset about it,” President Trump reiterated, emphasizing that the claim was “false and easily disproven.”
The lawsuit, if filed, could test Hunter Biden’s willingness to defend his remarks in court after others who repeated the claim have already backed down.
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