Judge Permanently Dismisses Trump's Billion Dollar Suit Against Wall Street Journal
A federal court in Miami ruled that the former president failed to prove the newspaper published his alleged connection to Jeffrey Epstein with actual malice.
By Vincent Parker ·
U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles permanently dismissed Donald Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch on Saturday. The ruling in federal court in Miami concluded that the former president did not demonstrate that the defendants acted with actual malice when they reported on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
The case traces back to a story published by The Wall Street Journal last year. The article described a sexually suggestive letter and a drawing that the paper said bore Trump's name. These items were part of an album compiled for Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003. Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite, reportedly collected the letter. The text is framed by a sketch of a naked woman and closes with the line, Happy Birthday, and may every day be another wonderful secret. Trump denied writing the letter and described the coverage as false, malicious, and defamatory.
The original complaint filed in Miami accused the newspaper and its reporters of knowingly and recklessly publishing false statements. The suit alleged that this conduct caused overwhelming financial and reputational harm to the former president. Judge Gayles first dismissed the case in April, finding that Trump had not sufficiently argued that the article was published with malicious intent. The judge then granted leave to file an amended complaint, which Trump's legal team submitted in May.
In his ruling on Saturday, Gayles cited the 1964 Supreme Court decision in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. That precedent requires public figures to prove that a media outlet knew a statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. Gayles wrote that the amended complaint failed to plead actual malice. He noted that the allegations regarding malice were conclusory and vague. The judge also observed that the newspaper informed readers that Trump decried the letter as a fake and denied writing it.
The dismissal with prejudice means the lawsuit cannot be refiled. This legal loss follows a period of adversarial relations between the Trump administration and news organizations during his second term. The former president is currently involved in lawsuits with the BBC, The Associated Press, and CNN. He is also in legal disputes with MS NOW and Politico, which are seeking restored access after he banished them from the White House in mid-September. Trump has frequently labeled critical outlets as fake news and criticized their journalists.
The White House did not issue an immediate public response to the Saturday ruling. Officials also did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. The decision ends a legal battle that Trump's team had pursued for over a year. The journal's reporting on the 2003 birthday album remains a central part of the public record regarding Trump's pre-arrest relationship with Epstein. Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. The dismissal closes this specific chapter of litigation between the former president and the newspaper.
The legal standard applied by Judge Gayles reinforces the protection afforded to the press in defamation cases involving public figures. The ruling confirms that the newspaper's reporting met the requirements of the Sullivan standard. The former president's legal team had argued that the investigation was flawed, but the court found the attempt to manufacture those flaws insufficient. The case now moves to a final stage of closure, leaving the dispute over the 2003 letter resolved in the courts. The dismissal stands as a permanent bar to this specific claim for damages.
