A federal judge has permanently dismissed US President Donald Trump’s multibillion-dollar defamation lawsuit against media mogul Rupert Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal.
On Saturday, U.S. District Judge Darrin Gales concluded that the president had failed to establish the “actual malice” standard required for a defamation suit.
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Under U.S. law, for a complaint to be successful, a defendant must prove that the defendant made the defamatory statement knowingly it was false or with “reckless disregard” for its accuracy.
But Gales said Trump is “grasping at straws” with his $10 billion lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal.
“The amended complaint falls short of alleging actual malice,” Gales wrote.
“In fact, claims of bad faith are conclusive, vague, sometimes inconsistent with the clause, and often independent of whether the defendant knew or should have known that the clause was allegedly false.”
The judge went so far as to suggest that Trump’s legal team tried to “manufacture flaws in the investigation” published in the Wall Street Journal.
The case stemmed from reports linking Trump to the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
On July 17, 2025, the Wall Street Journal published an exclusive article about a sexually suggestive birthday note given to Epstein on his 50th birthday in 2003 as part of a congratulatory gift book.
The letters were reportedly collected by disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for her role in Epstein’s sex trafficking scheme.
The note attributed to Trump includes typed text surrounded by a hand-drawn outline of what appears to be a curvaceous woman. At the bottom, where her pelvic area would be, there is Trump’s signature.
Trump strongly denied responsibility for the text, signature or artwork. A copy of the birthday letter was later released through the House Oversight Committee.
The Wall Street Journal article was published at a time when the second Trump administration faced intense scrutiny over whether it suppressed documents related to Epstein’s alleged sex crimes despite promises of transparency.
Critics also questioned the nature of Trump’s relationship with Epstein. The two are believed to have had contact, and Epstein is known to have surrounded himself with influential figures from politics, academia, and business.
In 2025, President Trump said he had ended his relationship with Epstein after Epstein “stole” a female employee from his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Epstein was convicted in Florida in 2008 of soliciting sex from a minor and sentenced to 13 months in prison. In 2019, he faced federal charges related to sex trafficking, but was found dead in a New York City jail before he could go to trial. His death was later determined to be a suicide.
Legal advocates say Epstein’s victims are estimated to number in the hundreds.
After the Wall Street Journal published its report, President Trump called the paper’s report “false, malicious and defamatory.”
His lawsuit, filed in federal court in Miami on July 18, 2025, accuses the newspaper and its reporters of “knowingly and recklessly” publishing “numerous false, defamatory and derogatory statements.”
As a result, the president claimed that he had suffered “overwhelming damage both financially and to his reputation.” Two journalists involved in the Wall Street Journal article were named as defendants.
Judge Gales dismissed the defamation suit in April, ruling that Trump had failed to prove the report was motivated by “actual malice.”
But that initial ruling gave Trump the chance to refile the charges in May.
The latest complaint alleges that the Wall Street Journal was reckless in failing to show how its reporters received and verified the letters.
Saturday’s Miami ruling dealt a decisive blow to President Trump’s attempts to litigate the issue. Gales’ decision dismisses the case “with prejudice,” effectively blocking any future litigation on the matter.
Trump has ongoing defamation lawsuits against other media outlets, including the BBC and the New York Times.
