A federal judge has dismissed Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal over an alleged birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein, telling the president that his claims amounted to “grasping at straws.”
Trump sued the newspaper and media tycoon Rupert Murdoch after the Journal published a letter last year that was allegedly signed by Trump and included a lewd illustration alongside the message: “May every day be another wonderful secret.”
US District Judge Darrin Gayles, sitting in Miami, dismissed the case with prejudice after finding that Trump had not shown the defendants acted with actual malice, a legal standard required in defamation cases involving public figures.
The judge said the lawsuit tried to “manufacture” shortcomings in the Journal’s reporting.
A dismissal with prejudice is permanent, meaning the case cannot be filed again.
A Dow Jones spokesperson, whose company owns The Wall Street Journal, told Our News Outlet: “We’re pleased with the court’s decision.”
A spokesman for Trump’s legal team told Our News Outlet that the president plans to appeal the ruling.
“President Trump will continue to press forward in his powerhouse lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and all of the other defendants. The President will continue to hold those who mislead the American People with Fake News and smears accountable for their actions.”
A federal judge dismissed Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal over an alleged birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein, saying the president was “grasping at straws”
The newspaper published a letter allegedly written by Trump to Epstein for the disgraced financier’s 50th birthday in 2003. Trump denied writing or sending it.
The decision represents a setback for Trump and his administration, both of which have maintained increasingly combative relationships with major news organizations during his second term.
Beyond the Journal, Trump is also involved in legal disputes with the BBC, The Associated Press and, more recently, CNN, MS NOW and Politico, which are suing him for restored access after he barred them from the White House in mid-September.
Trump has repeatedly attacked outlets that publish reports he disputes, often labeling them “fake news” and criticizing their journalists.
The lawsuit centered on a Journal report about a sexually suggestive letter and drawing that the newspaper said carried Trump’s name and appeared in a 2003 album assembled for Epstein’s 50th birthday.
The letter was reportedly gathered by disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein’s birthday album, years before Epstein was arrested for the first time in 2006 and later fell out with Trump.
“We have certain things in common, Jeffrey,” the letter states, followed by the line, “A pal is a wonderful thing.”
According to the newspaper, the message was written inside the outline of a woman’s body and concluded: “Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
ALSO READ: Trump Seeks to Toss ‘Decoy Dan’ Alaska Senate Ballots
Trump denied authoring the note and described the Journal’s report as “false, malicious, and defamatory.”
The ruling is a setback for Trump and his administration, which have pursued increasingly hostile relationships with news organizations during his second term
The White House challenged the letter’s authenticity when the Journal first published its report.
“The latest piece published by the Wall Street Journal proves this entire ‘Birthday Card’ story is false,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on X. “As I have said all along, it’s very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it.”
“President Trump’s legal team will continue to aggressively pursue litigation,” Leavitt added, accusing the reporter of spreading “fake news” about the “Democrat Epstein Hoax!”
The birthday book is reportedly a collection of messages assembled by Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell for his 50th birthday.
Maxwell is said to have collected and scanned the contributions before binding them into an album that she presented to Epstein in 2003. Multiple reporters who said they had seen the binder reported that it contained messages from numerous prominent figures.
Reports have also said the album included a handwritten note from former President Bill Clinton, who had social and professional ties to Epstein during the 1990s and 2000s.
Filed in federal court in Miami, the lawsuit accused the newspaper and its reporters of knowingly and recklessly publishing “numerous false, defamatory, and disparaging statements.” Trump’s complaint claimed the report caused “overwhelming financial and reputational harm.”
Judge Gayles initially dismissed the case in April, ruling that Trump had not adequately alleged the article was published with malicious intent. He allowed the president to submit an amended complaint, which Trump filed in May.
Trump also named Rupert Murdoch, former executive chairman of Fox Corp, as a defendant
In Saturday’s decision, Gayles relied on the Supreme Court’s landmark 1964 ruling in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan.
That ruling raised the bar for public figures seeking damages in libel cases. They must show that a publisher knowingly printed false information or acted with reckless disregard for whether it was true — the standard known as “actual malice.”
“The Amended Complaint falls short of pleading actual malice,” Gayles wrote.
“Indeed, the allegations regarding malice are 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.”
The judge also said the Journal’s report did not disregard Trump’s response. “Rather, it informed readers that President Trump decried the Letter as a fake and denied writing it,” he wrote.
Gayles further concluded that several other claims included in Trump’s lawsuit lacked legal merit.
