Federal Judge Dismisses Trump’s $10B WSJ Defamation Case
Federal judge dismisses Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal with prejudice.
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A federal judge has permanently dismissed former President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, ruling that the former president failed to prove the newspaper acted with actual malice. U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami dismissed the case with prejudice on Saturday, barring Trump from refiling the same claims. The decision marks a major setback for the former president’s legal strategy.
Gayles concluded that Trump did not meet the legal standard for public figures in defamation cases, which requires proof of actual malice. The judge criticized Trump’s attempt to find fault with the Journal’s reporting, calling it a “grasping at straws” effort. The ruling noted that the Amended Complaint “falls short of pleading actual malice.”
A federal judge threw out President Donald Trump’s multibillion-dollar lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch over a story reporting on his ties to wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein. https://t.co/lgXv5TnMLO
Despite the dismissal, Trump’s legal team has shown no sign of retreat. A spokesperson for the legal team told CBS News that the president will continue to press forward in his lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and all other defendants. The case, which began with a Journal article published on July 17, 2025, described a sexually suggestive note found in a 2003 album for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday. Trump denied any involvement in the note, calling it a “fake thing.”
Trump filed the lawsuit in Miami federal court the day after the article was published. The first version of the complaint was rejected in April, with the judge noting that Trump had “come nowhere close” to proving malice. His team refiled in May, arguing that the Journal was reckless in not explaining how its reporters received and verified the letter.
House lawmakers later subpoenaed Epstein’s estate and obtained a redacted copy of the birthday book that contained the disputed letter. Ghislaine Maxwell, who assembled the album, is currently incarcerated on a 20-year sentence for aiding Epstein’s sex-trafficking scheme. The suit also named News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, Robert Thomson, Dow Jones, and two Journal reporters.
Trump has filed similar defamation claims against other media outlets, with active cases against the BBC and The New York Times. The case highlights the ongoing legal battles between Trump and major news organizations over allegations of defamation and misconduct.
Source: Daily Caller
