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A federal judge has permanently dismissed United States President Donald Trump’s multibillion-dollar defamation lawsuit against media mogul Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal. US District Judge Darrin Gayles concluded that the president had failed to establish the standard of actual malice required for defamation suits.
Defamation Standard Not Met
Under US law, a successful complaint must show that the defendant released a defamatory statement knowing it was false or with reckless disregard for its accuracy. Gayles stated that Trump was grasping at straws with his $10bn case against the publication. The judge noted that the amended complaint fell short of pleading actual malice, describing the allegations regarding malice as conclusory, vague, sometimes inconsistent with the article, and often irrelevant.
The judge suggested that Trump’s legal team had attempted to manufacture flaws with the investigation published in the newspaper. The case originated from coverage that linked Trump to the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Epstein Birthday Note Controversy
The Wall Street Journal published an exclusive describing a sexually suggestive birthday note gifted to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003 as part of a book of congratulatory letters. The letters were reportedly collected by disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for her involvement in Epstein’s sex-trafficking scheme. The note attributed to Trump includes typed text framed by a hand-drawn outline of a curvaceous woman, with Trump’s signature at the bottom near the pelvic region.
Trump denied responsibility for the text, signature, and artwork, and a copy of the letter was later released through the House Oversight Committee. The newspaper article arrived while Trump’s second administration faced scrutiny over whether it withheld documents about Epstein’s alleged sex crimes. Critics also questioned the relationship between Trump and Epstein, who previously socialized together. In 2025, Trump stated he ended his relationship with Epstein after the financier stole female employees from his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Epstein was convicted of soliciting a minor for sex in Florida in 2008 and served 13 months in jail. In 2019, he faced federal charges related to sex trafficking before being found dead in his New York City jail cell in a ruling later determined to be suicide. Legal advocates estimate Epstein’s victims number in the hundreds.
Lawsuit Dismissed With Prejudice
Following the publication, Trump labeled the coverage false, malicious, and defamatory. He filed a lawsuit in the federal court in Miami accusing the paper and its reporters of knowingly and recklessly publishing false statements, which caused overwhelming financial and reputational harm. The lawsuit also named two journalists associated with the article.
Judge Gayles initially dismissed the lawsuit in April because Trump failed to prove actual malice, but allowed him to refile. The updated May complaint claimed the newspaper was reckless by not showing how reporters received and verified the letter. Saturday’s ruling in Miami dismissed the case with prejudice, which permanently blocks any future litigation on the matter.
Trump maintains other ongoing defamation cases against additional media organizations, including the BBC and The New York Times.
