Federal Judge Dismisses Trump's $10 Billion Lawsuit Against the Wall Street Journal With Prejudice; Appeal Is Likely
Judge Darrin Gayles ruled Saturday that Trump did not plead actual malice over the Journal's Epstein birthday-letter story. Trump's lawyers say they will keep fighting.
A federal judge in Miami has dismissed President Trump's $10 billion defamation suit against The Wall Street Journal with prejudice, the Daily Caller reports. The ruling came Saturday.
The ruling. U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles found that Trump failed to show the newspaper acted with "actual malice," the standard public figures must meet. The judge wrote that the president was "grasping at straws" in trying to find fault with the Journal's reporting and that "the Amended Complaint falls short of pleading actual malice." With prejudice means Trump cannot refile the same claims.
What happens next. The Daily Caller cites CBS News saying a person familiar with the legal strategy expects an appeal. A spokesperson for Trump's legal team told CBS: "President Trump will continue to press forward in his powerhouse lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and all of the other defendants."
Background. The suit grew out of a Journal article published July 17, 2025, describing a sexually suggestive note carrying Trump's name in a 2003 album for Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday. Trump denied it, telling the Journal, "This is not me. This is a fake thing." He sued in Miami federal court the next day. Gayles rejected the first version in April, saying Trump came "nowhere close" to proving malice. Trump refiled in May, arguing the Journal was reckless in not explaining how it verified the letter. The report says House lawmakers later subpoenaed Epstein's estate and obtained a redacted copy of the birthday book.
Who was sued. The defendants include News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson, Dow Jones and two Journal reporters. The Daily Caller adds that Trump has active cases against the BBC and The New York Times.
What to keep in mind. This is a dismissal on the pleading standard, not a finding on whether the letter is genuine. The appeal is reported as likely, not filed.