A federal judge in the United States has permanently dismissed a multibillion-dollar defamation lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump against media mogul Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal. On Saturday, US District Judge Darrin Gayles concluded that the president’s legal team failed to meet the necessary legal standard of “actual malice,” which is required to succeed in defamation litigation under American law.
The ruling puts an end to a protracted legal battle that originated in July 2025. The lawsuit stemmed from an exclusive report published by The Wall Street Journal regarding a birthday note allegedly gifted to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The note, reportedly part of a collection of letters gathered by Ghislaine Maxwell, featured text framed by a hand-drawn illustration and included what appeared to be the president’s signature. President Trump has vehemently denied any involvement with the note, its content, or the accompanying artwork.
In his decision, Judge Gayles stated that the president’s legal team was “grasping at straws” in their pursuit of the $10 billion claim. The judge noted that the amended complaint failed to adequately plead 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.” Furthermore, the court suggested that the plaintiff’s legal counsel had attempted to artificially manufacture flaws in the newspaper's investigative process.
The original lawsuit, filed in a Miami federal court in July 2025, accused the publication and two of its journalists of knowingly and recklessly publishing false and disparaging statements. President Trump claimed that the reporting caused him significant financial and reputational harm. At the time of the article's publication, the Trump administration was facing intense public scrutiny concerning the potential withholding of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking network, as well as questions regarding the president's past personal association with Epstein.
This is the second time Judge Gayles has ruled on the matter. An initial dismissal occurred in April, which granted the president an opportunity to refile his complaint. The updated filing in May argued that the newspaper acted recklessly by not detailing how its reporters had verified the authenticity of the birthday letter. However, Saturday's ruling dismisses the case “with prejudice,” a legal designation that prevents the president from bringing future litigation on this specific matter.
Jeffrey Epstein, who was convicted of soliciting a minor for sex in 2008, was later found dead in his New York City jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges; the death was subsequently ruled a suicide. The Wall Street Journal report was published as part of ongoing investigative scrutiny into Epstein, whose victims are estimated to number in the hundreds. The president has previously stated that he ceased his relationship with Epstein after the financier allegedly stole employees from his Mar-a-Lago resort.
While this case against The Wall Street Journal has now concluded, President Trump continues to pursue various other defamation lawsuits against different media organizations, including The New York Times and the BBC. As of the latest court update, this specific legal challenge concerning the Epstein-linked reporting remains firmly closed.
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