Federal judge permanently dismisses Trump's $10bn defamation suit against Wall Street Journal
Judge Darrin Gayles ruled the president failed to prove actual malice in the newspaper's reporting on an Epstein-linked birthday note.
At a glance
- Judge Darrin Gayles permanently dismissed Trump's $10bn defamation suit against The Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch.
- The ruling found Trump failed to prove actual malice in the Journal's 2025 article about an Epstein-linked birthday note.
- The dismissal with prejudice bars Trump from refiling the same claims in the future.
A federal judge in Miami has permanently dismissed President Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal, delivering a final defeat in the president's legal battle over a 2025 article linking him to Jeffrey Epstein.
US District Judge Darrin Gayles ruled on Saturday that Trump failed to meet the legal standard of "actual malice" required for public figures to win defamation claims. Under US law, plaintiffs must show the defendant published a false statement knowing it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth.
"The Amended Complaint falls short of pleading actual malice," Gayles wrote in his order. He described the malice allegations as "conclusory, vague, sometimes inconsistent with the Article and often irrelevant." The judge also suggested Trump's legal team had attempted "to manufacture flaws with the investigation" published by the Journal.
The case centered on a July 17, 2025, Wall Street Journal exclusive describing a sexually suggestive birthday note allegedly given to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003. The note, reportedly collected by Ghislaine Maxwell, included typed text framed by a hand-drawn outline of a curvaceous woman with Trump's signature at the bottom. Trump denied responsibility for the text, signature and artwork.
The article appeared as Trump's second administration faced scrutiny over whether it had withheld documents about Epstein's alleged sex crimes. Critics had long questioned the nature of Trump and Epstein's relationship; the two socialised in the 2000s before Trump said he cut ties after Epstein "stole" female employees from Mar-a-Lago.
Epstein was convicted in 2008 of soliciting a minor for sex and faced federal sex-trafficking charges in 2019 before dying in his jail cell. His victims are estimated to number in the hundreds.
Trump filed the lawsuit on July 18, 2025, accusing the Journal and two of its reporters of knowingly publishing false statements. Judge Gayles initially dismissed the case in April but allowed Trump to refile. The president submitted an amended complaint in May, arguing the Journal had been reckless in not disclosing how reporters obtained and verified the letter.
Saturday's ruling dismisses the case "with prejudice," barring any future litigation on the same claims. Trump continues to pursue separate defamation cases against the BBC and The New York Times.
Source: Al Jazeera.
Questions and answers
- Why did the judge dismiss Trump's lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal?
- Judge Gayles ruled Trump failed to prove actual malice, the legal standard requiring proof the publisher knew the statements were false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.
- What was the Wall Street Journal article about?
- The July 2025 article described a sexually suggestive birthday note allegedly given to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003 that bore Trump's signature and a hand-drawn outline of a woman.
- Can Trump appeal or refile this lawsuit?
- The dismissal was with prejudice, which effectively blocks any future litigation on the same claims, though Trump has other pending defamation cases against different media outlets.
