Judge permanently dismisses Trump's $10 billion suit against Wall Street Journal

Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and media executive Rupert Murdoch ended on Saturday after a federal judge in Miami dismissed the case permanently. U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles ruled that the president did not meet the legal burden of proving the defendants published defamatory statements with actual malice.

The dismissal with prejudice means the lawsuit cannot be refiled. The court described the legal action as an attempt to manufacture flaws in the newspaper’s investigative reporting. Gayles stated that the amended complaint failed to plead actual malice effectively.

The dispute centers on a story published by The Wall Street Journal last year. The article described a sexually suggestive letter and drawing that the paper said bore Trump’s name. The document was included in a 2003 album compiled for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday. Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite, reportedly collected the letter before Epstein was first arrested in 2006.

The letter includes text framed by the outline of a hand-drawn naked woman. It ends with the phrase, “Happy Birthday, and may every day be another wonderful secret.” Trump denied writing the document. He characterized the newspaper’s coverage as false, malicious, and defamatory.

The original lawsuit, filed in federal court in Miami, accused the paper and its reporters of knowingly and recklessly publishing false statements. The complaint alleged these errors caused overwhelming financial and reputational harm to the president. Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.

Judge Gayles had previously dismissed the suit in April. He found that Trump had not made a sufficient argument that the article was published with malicious intent. The judge granted the president permission to file an amended complaint, which Trump’s team did in May. The court reviewed the new filings before issuing its final decision on Saturday.

In his ruling, Gayles cited the Supreme Court’s 1964 decision in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. That precedent established that public figures must prove a media outlet knowingly published falsehoods or showed reckless disregard for the truth. The judge found the allegations in the amended complaint were conclusory and vague.

Gayles noted that the Journal did not ignore Trump’s denial of the letter. The story informed readers that the president decried the document as a fake and denied writing it. The judge also determined that several other allegations in the lawsuit lacked merit. The ruling cited specific inconsistencies between the legal claims and the article’s content.

The decision adds to a series of legal confrontations between the administration and news organizations during the second term. Trump is currently involved in lawsuits with the BBC, The Associated Press, CNN, MS NOW, and Politico. Those outlets are seeking restored access after the White House banished them in mid-September. The White House did not immediately react publicly to Saturday’s decision.

Trump has frequently denounced media outlets that publish stories he objects to. He often labels such organizations fake news and insults their journalists. The dismissal stands as a final determination on this specific claim of defamation against the Journal and Murdoch.