Law & Justice

Judge Dismisses Trump’s $10 B Defamation Suit Against The Wall Street Journal

By Al Jazeera Staff

A federal judge permanently dismissed former President Donald Trump’s multibillion‑dollar defamation lawsuit against media mogul Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal. On Saturday, U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles ruled that Trump failed to prove the standard of "actual malice" required for defamation claims. Under U.S. law, a plaintiff must show that the defendant released a defamatory statement knowing it was false or with reckless disregard for its truth. Judge Gayles said Trump’s amended complaint fell short of pleading actual malice, describing the allegations as "conclusory, vague, sometimes inconsistent with the Article and often irrelevant to whether Defendants knew or should have known that the statements in the Article were purportedly false." He also suggested that Trump’s legal team had attempted to "manufacture flaws with the investigation" published in the paper.

The lawsuit stemmed from a July 17, 2025, Wall Street Journal exclusive that linked Trump to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. The article described a sexually suggestive birthday note gifted to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003, part of a book of congratulatory letters. 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. A copy of the letter was later released through the House Oversight Committee.

The Wall Street Journal’s report appeared amid scrutiny of Trump’s second administration over alleged document withholding related to Epstein’s alleged sex crimes. Trump said he ended his relationship with Epstein after the financier "stole" female employees from his Mar‑a‑Lago resort. Epstein was convicted of soliciting a minor for sex in Florida in 2008, served 13 months in jail, and was later charged with federal sex‑trafficking offenses before dying in his New York City jail cell in 2019, a death ruled a suicide. Victims of Epstein are estimated to number in the hundreds.

After the report, Trump called the coverage "false, malicious, and defamatory" and filed the lawsuit in federal court in Miami on July 18, 2025. He alleged that the paper and its reporters had "knowingly and recklessly" published numerous false, defamatory, and disparaging statements, causing "overwhelming financial and reputational harm." Two journalists associated with the article were named among the defendants. In April, Judge Gayles dismissed the case for lack of actual malice, but Trump refiled in May with an updated complaint claiming the paper was reckless in not showing how reporters had received and verified the letter. The Saturday ruling dismisses the case "with prejudice," preventing any future litigation on the matter. Trump continues to pursue other defamation cases against outlets such as the BBC and The New York Times.