A Miami federal judge has ended Trump's $10 billion defamation case against The Wall Street Journal for good, ruling that the president again failed to show the paper acted with actual malice.
On Saturday, U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice. It can't be refiled, so the case against the Journal, its parent companies, Rupert Murdoch and two reporters is over.
Gayles threw out the case for the second time. In April, he dismissed it after finding that Trump had not shown the article was published with intent to be malicious, but let the president file an amended complaint, which he did in May.
What the judge ruled
Gayles found that Trump failed to establish that the defendants published the statements knowing they were false or while seriously doubting their truth, as required for a public figure to prove actual malice. The judge cited the Supreme Court's 1964 decision in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, which says a public figure must show that a publisher either knew a claim was false or published it despite serious doubts about its truth.
The Amended Complaint falls short of pleading actual malice
He described the malice allegations as "conclusory, vague, sometimes inconsistent with the Article, and often irrelevant to whether Defendants knew or should have known that the statements in the Article were purportedly false."
Gayles also said the lawsuit had tried to "manufacture" flaws in the Journal's investigative reporting. He called the suit "grasping at straws".
The letter at the centre of the case
The Journal published the story last year. It said the 2003 album compiled for Epstein's 50th birthday contained a letter and drawing with Trump's name, both sexually suggestive. The letter has text encircled by what looks like an outline of a naked woman drawn by hand, and ends: "Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret."
Years before Epstein's first arrest in 2006 and his later falling-out with Trump, Ghislaine Maxwell reportedly gathered the album. In August 2019, Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell, where he was being held pending trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Trump denied writing the letter and called the story "false, malicious, and defamatory." In July 2025, he sued in federal court in Miami, accusing the paper and its reporters of having "knowingly and recklessly" published false and defamatory statements that caused "overwhelming financial and reputational harm".
Why the denial did not save the case
Gayles rejected the argument that the Journal should have held back the story once Trump denied the letter. The article, he noted, didn't ignore or minimise the denial. It told readers that the president had called the letter a fake and denied writing it.
Rather, it informed readers that President Trump decried the Letter as a fake and denied writing it.
The court also dismissed Trump's claim that the paper acted recklessly by publishing after he denied the story's central claim. Gayles wrote that allowing a denial to prevent publication would stop journalists from reporting negative or contradictory press whenever a public figure or his team disputed an accusation, undermining the American right to express one's views.
That approach, he said, conflicts with the First Amendment and doesn't meet the actual malice standard.
The damages figures
The amount at stake changed over the life of the case. One account of the litigation says the suit sought $10 billion and Gayles dismissed it in April. Others say the original suit sought $20 billion in damages and Trump's team refiled seeking $10 billion. In April, one report said, the judge found the original complaint's "formulaic" claims of malice fell "nowhere close" to meeting the legal standard required of a public figure.
- July 2025Suit filed
Trump sues the Journal, its parent companies, Murdoch and two reporters in federal court in Miami.
- AprilFirst dismissal
Gayles throws out the case but allows an amended complaint. Accounts differ on whether the sum sought was $10 billion or $20 billion.
- MayRefiling
Trump files an amended complaint.
- SaturdayDismissed with prejudice
Gayles rules the amended complaint does not plead actual malice. The case cannot be refiled.
Reaction and what comes next
Dow Jones, which owns the Journal, welcomed the court's decision, a spokesperson for the company said.
Trump's legal team indicated it planned to challenge the ruling. A Trump spokesman said the president "will continue to press forward in his powerhouse lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and all of the other defendants."
will continue to press forward in his powerhouse lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and all of the other defendants.
The White House did not immediately react publicly to the dismissal or respond to a request for comment.
The ruling is a setback for an administration that has pursued adversarial relationships with news organisations during Trump's second term. He also faces legal disputes with the BBC, The Associated Press, CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
The cases still live in Miami and elsewhere
Trump is suing the BBC in federal court in Miami over a Panorama documentary that edited together excerpts from his January 6, 2021, address. He seeks $5 billion in damages on each of two counts, one alleging defamation and the other a violation of a Florida trade practices law. Trump must sit for a deposition by December 11. This week, the judge cautioned that the case could be thrown out unless Trump provides additional relevant documents or proof of his legal team's efforts to find them.
In September, CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued under the First Amendment after Trump barred them from the White House and reporters were escorted off the grounds. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly granted a temporary restraining order on September 24 and ordered credentials restored, then converted it to a preliminary injunction on October 14 while the case proceeds. In an October 28 amended complaint, the outlets argued that the administration continued to leave them out of pool coverage in the Oval Office and aboard Air Force One, despite restoring their credentials.
| Outfit | Venue | Claim | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch | Federal court in Miami | $10 billion | Dismissed with prejudice |
| BBC | Federal court in Miami | $5 billion per count | Deposition by December 11; dismissal warning |
| CNN, MS NOW and Politico | Court where Judge Timothy Kelly sits | Restored access | Preliminary injunction; amended complaint on October 28 |
| The New York Times and Penguin Random House | Not given | $15 billion | Dismissed, refiled; still pending |
| Pulitzer Prize Board | Florida | Not given | Survived dismissal efforts; active |
Trump is also seeking $15 billion from The New York Times, several reporters and Penguin Random House over their coverage and a book portraying how he spent his father's fortune and fashioned an image of success. In September 2025, a federal judge dismissed the case but gave Trump permission to file an amended complaint. The litigation remains pending.
He is also suing members of the Pulitzer Prize Board over a 2022 statement defending the Pulitzer Prizes awarded to The New York Times and The Washington Post for reporting on Russian interference in the 2016 election. That case has survived dismissal efforts and remains active in Florida.
What we know
- Gayles dismissed the Journal suit with prejudice on Saturday.
- The judge ruled Trump did not plausibly plead actual malice.
- The BBC case seeks $5 billion per count in the same Miami courthouse.
Still unclear
- Whether Trump's legal team will formally challenge the dismissal, and on what grounds.
- Whether the White House will respond; it had not commented publicly when the reports were published.
Gayles wrote that defending a lawsuit can demand enough time and money to discourage free speech, even when the actual malice standard applies.
The concentration of Trump's media litigation in one Florida courthouse remains unchanged. The BBC case there now carries the next fixed date.
