Judge Tosses Trump's $10 Billion Lawsuit Against The Wall Street Journal
The judge ruled that the former president failed to prove the newspaper made defamatory statements with actual malice.
A federal judge has dismissed former President Donald Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, its parent company, and media mogul Rupert Murdoch. U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami ruled that Trump failed to prove the defendants made defamatory statements with actual malice, a standard required for public figures to win libel cases.
The lawsuit, filed over a story reporting on Trump's ties to Jeffrey Epstein, was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. Gayles stated that the lawsuit attempted to "manufacture" flaws in the Journal's reporting and that the allegations regarding malice were "conclusory, vague, sometimes inconsistent with the Article, and often irrelevant."
The case centered on a 2023 story that described a sexually suggestive letter and drawing, reportedly bearing Trump's name, found in an album compiled for Epstein's 50th birthday. The letter included text framed by a drawing of a naked woman and ended with "Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret." Trump denied writing the letter and called the story "false, malicious, and defamatory."
In his ruling, Gayles noted that the Journal's article included Trump's denial that he wrote the letter, stating, "Rather, it informed readers that President Trump decried the Letter as a fake and denied writing it."
This is not the first time the suit has been dismissed. Judge Gayles had previously thrown out the case in April, but allowed Trump to file an amended complaint, which he did in May. The judge's decision invoked the Supreme Court's 1964 ruling in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, which established the actual malice standard for public figures suing for libel.
The dismissal represents a setback for Trump, who has engaged in adversarial relationships with news organizations throughout his political career. He has frequently criticized media outlets he deems unfair, often labeling their reporting as "fake news."
Trump is also involved in other legal disputes with media organizations. Following his ban of CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House in September, these outlets filed lawsuits seeking the restoration of their press credentials. Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.