Melania Trump threatens to sue Hunter Biden for $1bn over Jeffrey Epstein claim

Melania Trump has threatened to sue Joe Biden's son Hunter after he claimed billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein introduced her to the president.

The First Lady'slegal team described the comments as "false, disparaging, defamatory and inflammatory" as they warned if he did not retract the claim, they would launch a $1bn lawsuit against him.

Biden made the comments earlier this month during an interview. He also criticised her husband's former ties to the monster financier, who took his own life while awaiting trial over sex offences in 2019.

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While Trump and Epstein were friends at one point, the president has claimed they fell out after the paedophile poached employees that worked at his golf club in Florida.

In a letter addressed to Biden's lawyers, Melania's legal team demands he retracts the claim and apologise or face the crippling lawsuit.

The First Lady has suffered "overwhelming financial and reputational harm" due to the claim that he repeated, the letter states.

The letter also gets a little more personal as the youngest Biden son is accused of having a "vast history of trading on the names of others", adding that the recent comments were a way of him "draw[ing] attention to yourself".

Earlier this month, Biden told filmmaker Andrew Callaghan that unreleased documents would "implicate" President Trump.

He said: "Epstein introduced Melania to Trump - the connections are so wide and deep."

The claim first emerged in a critical biography of the president penned by journalist Michael Wolff.

In a Daily Beast interview, Wolff claimed the first lady was an associate of the sex offender when she met Trump. The outlet later retracted the story after receiving a similar letter.

The first lady accused Biden of relying on the contents of a since-removed article for his claims. The legal team describe the article as "false and defamatory".

The archived version of the Daily Beast article reads: "After this story was published, The Beast received a letter from First Lady Melania Trump's attorney challenging the headline and framing of the article.

"After reviewing the matter, the Beast has taken down the article and apologizes for any confusion or misunderstanding."

It comes ahead of the release of an explosive book about Prince Andrew, which could potentially have implications reaching as far as the White House.

Andrew Lownie's latest work, The Rise and Fall of the House of York, dedicates a whole chapter to the paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.

Lownie suggests that Andrew's connection with Epstein was the royal's downfall. In 2022, the Duke of York - the youngest son of the late Queen Elizabeth - faced US civil proceedings over sexual assault allegations. While he paid a settlement, Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing. He subsequently agreed to stop using his Royal Highness title and ceased all public duties and saw his military honours and Royal patronages "returned to the monarch".