A federal judge in Miami has dismissed President Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and its parent company's owner, Rupert Murdoch, over a story linking Trump to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. US District Judge Darrin Gayles ruled on Monday that Trump had failed to meet the legal threshold required for defamation cases involving public figures, though he gave Trump's legal team until 27 April to refile an amended complaint.
The lawsuit stemmed from a Wall Street Journal article published on 17 July 2025, which described a sexually suggestive letter and sketch that the newspaper said bore Trump's signature, included in a birthday album compiled for Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003. The album was reportedly assembled at the request of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former partner and convicted accomplice in his sexual abuse network. Trump denied ever sending the letter, saying: "This is not me. This is a hoax. I have never drawn a picture in my life." The drawing was later released publicly by the US Congress, which had subpoenaed records from Epstein's estate.
Judge Gayles, applying the "actual malice" standard established in US defamation law — which requires public figures to prove that a publisher either knew a statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth — found that Trump's complaint fell far short. "This complaint comes nowhere close to this standard," Gayles wrote. "Quite the opposite." The judge highlighted that Journal reporters had contacted Trump, the Department of Justice, and the FBI before publication; Trump denied the story, the DOJ did not respond, and the FBI declined to comment. That effort to verify the reporting, Gayles concluded, cut directly against the claim of malicious intent. The Journal's parent company, Dow Jones, said it was "pleased with the judge's decision" and stood behind the accuracy of its reporting.
The case carries unusual dimensions: Murdoch is one of Trump's most prominent media allies, and Trump reportedly called him personally before publication in an attempt to stop the story from running. Trump still filed suit after it appeared. The lawsuit is part of a broader pattern of the president using litigation against news organisations whose coverage he disputes; he maintains an active suit against the BBC over a documentary, and his administration faces several first-amendment lawsuits from media companies.
Trump's legal team vowed to refile, with the president posting on his Truth Social platform that the dismissal was "not a termination" but "a suggested re-filing." The case matters beyond its immediate legal outcome: it reflects the ongoing political and legal turbulence surrounding the Epstein files, which the Trump administration ordered released earlier this year, and raises questions about the boundaries of press freedom and the use of defamation law as a tool against critical journalism in the United States.