“While Plaintiff and the First Lady have a real dispute, they must litigate it according to the same procedures as everyone else,” Vyskocil wrote. “Plaintiff asks for a declaration that, if the First Lady sues him, he deserves to win. That is not how the federal courts work.”

The dispute centers on comments Wolff made linking Melania Trump to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Following those remarks, Melania Trump’s attorney, Alejandro Brito, sent Wolff a demand letter demanding that he retract the statements and warning that failure to do so could result in a defamation lawsuit. The letter alleged the comments had caused “overwhelming reputational and financial harm.”