You’ve probably seen the headlines screaming across your social media feed. Huge numbers—usually something like $900 million—splashed next to a picture of Melania Trump and the co-hosts of ABC’s The View. It’s the kind of thing that stops your thumb mid-scroll. But did Melania Trump sue The View, or is this just another case of the internet playing a giant game of telephone?
Honestly, the short answer is no. She didn't.
But like most things involving the Trump family and the media, the "why" is a lot more interesting than a simple yes or no. The rumor didn't just appear out of thin air. It grew out of a very real, very tense history between the former First Lady and the talk show that has basically made a sport out of criticizing her husband.
The $900 Million Myth
Let’s get the big one out of the way first. In early 2025, a wave of posts on platforms like Threads and X (formerly Twitter) claimed that Melania had "won" a $900 million defamation lawsuit against The View and Sunny Hostin. Some of these posts even featured AI-generated narrations that sounded just convincing enough to fool people who were already looking for a reason to cheer.
The claim was that Hostin had crossed a legal line by saying Melania "hates" Donald Trump and "can't tolerate him."
While Sunny Hostin did actually make disparaging remarks on the October 3, 2024, episode—specifically saying she thought Melania "wants to take him out" and doesn't want to be First Lady—there is zero record of a lawsuit being filed, let alone a nearly billion-dollar settlement.
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Legal experts will tell you that winning $900 million for someone saying you "hate" your spouse is virtually impossible under U.S. libel law. For a public figure to win a defamation case, they have to prove "actual malice." That means the person speaking knew what they were saying was false or acted with a "reckless disregard" for the truth. In a world of opinion-based daytime TV, saying you "think" someone feels a certain way is almost always protected as an opinion.
Why People Believed It
The reason this rumor caught fire is that Melania Trump is one of the few people in the political world who actually has sued the media and won. People remember the headlines; they just forget the details.
Back in 2017, she famously took on the Daily Mail. The British tabloid had published a story suggesting she had worked as an "escort" in the 1990s. That wasn't just an opinion—it was a specific, factual allegation that her legal team proved was completely false.
- The Settlement: She didn't get $900 million. She got about $2.9 million.
- The Retraction: The Daily Mail had to issue a massive, public apology.
- The Impact: This established her as someone who isn't afraid to use the courts to protect her "brand."
So, when a TikTok video says she's suing The View, your brain goes, "Yeah, that sounds like something she’d do." But there’s a massive difference between suing a tabloid for calling you a sex worker and suing a talk show host for saying you look unhappy in your marriage.
The Real Legal Battles of 2025 and 2026
While the "View" lawsuit is a total fabrication, the Trumps are currently swimming in actual litigation as we head into 2026. If you're looking for where the real drama is, you have to look at the cases involving Donald Trump and the people Melania is actually tangling with.
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For instance, Donald Trump recently filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC. He claims they edited a Jan. 6th speech to make him look worse than he was. That’s a real case, filed in a Florida federal court. Then there’s the Michael Wolff situation.
In late 2025, author Michael Wolff actually sued Melania Trump. It was a "preemptive" move after her lawyers threatened him with a $1 billion lawsuit over claims he made involving her and the Jeffrey Epstein circle. Instead of waiting to be sued, Wolff went to court in New York to ask a judge to declare that his reporting didn't defame her.
This is what we call a "Declaratory Action." It’s basically Wolff saying, "I’m not waiting for you to sue me; let’s settle this now." This real-life billion-dollar threat likely got mixed up in the internet's brain with The View, creating the $900 million viral rumor.
How to Spot the Fake News
Look, these rumors are designed to trigger an emotional response. Whether you love the Trumps or can’t stand them, the "Melania sues The View" story is a classic example of "rage-bait" or "confirmation-bias-bait."
If you want to know if a celebrity actually sued someone, check these three things:
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- The Source: Is it a random person on Threads, or is it the Associated Press?
- The Number: If the damages are in the hundreds of millions for a "hurt feelings" case, it’s probably fake. Even the massive E. Jean Carroll judgment against Donald Trump was $83.3 million, which is huge, but nowhere near $900 million.
- Court Records: High-profile lawsuits like this are public record. If it happened, there would be a docket number in a New York or Florida court.
The Bottom Line
Melania Trump has not sued The View. She hasn't won $900 million from Sunny Hostin or Whoopi Goldberg. While the hosts of that show definitely don't hold back their opinions on her, those opinions are currently protected by the First Amendment.
If you're following the legal saga of the Trump family, keep your eyes on the BBC case and the Michael Wolff dispute. Those are the ones with actual lawyers and real courtrooms.
If you want to stay ahead of the curve on these stories, the best move is to verify any "breaking news" you see on social media against established legal reporting outlets like Courthouse News or SCOTUSblog. Most of these viral "wins" turn out to be nothing more than digital fan fiction.
Keep a close watch on the Michael Wolff "preemptive" lawsuit in New York. The outcome of that case will likely determine how Melania handles media criticism for the rest of 2026 and whether she decides to actually pull the trigger on further defamation suits.