Judge tosses Trump's $10 billion libel case against Wall Street Journal

U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami dismissed Donald Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch on Saturday. The decision ends a legal battle over a 2025 article that detailed a sexually suggestive letter and drawing attributed to the president. Gayles called the claim a "grasping at straws" effort and ruled the case out with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled.

The ruling determines that Trump failed to meet the legal standard of actual malice required for public figures to win defamation suits. Under the Supreme Court's 1964 decision in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, media outlets must knowingly publish false information or show a reckless disregard for the truth to be liable. Gayles wrote that the amended complaint's allegations regarding malice were conclusory and vague.

The dispute centers on a story published last year about a 2003 birthday album for Jeffrey Epstein. The Journal reported that the album, compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell, contained a letter bearing Trump's name. The text was framed by a hand-drawn outline of a naked woman and concluded with the phrase, "Happy Birthday and may every day be another wonderful secret." Trump denied authorship and labeled the coverage false, malicious, and defamatory.

The original suit accused the paper and its reporters of knowingly and recklessly publishing false statements that caused overwhelming financial and reputational harm. Gayles had previously dismissed the case in April for failing to argue intent but allowed an amended complaint in May. On Saturday, the judge found that the Journal did not ignore Trump's denial of the letter. Instead, the article informed readers that the president decried the document as a fake.

This dismissal adds to a series of legal conflicts between the administration and news organizations. Trump is currently embroiled in lawsuits involving the BBC, The Associated Press, and three other outlets. CNN, MS NOW, and Politico are suing for restored access after Trump banished them from the White House in mid-September. The White House did not immediately react publicly to the Saturday ruling or respond to a request for comment.

Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. The legal fight over the letter has become a central point of contention in the administration's ongoing disputes with the press regarding the accuracy of its reporting on the former financier.