WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit over a Wall Street Journal story tied to Jeffrey Epstein’s 2003 birthday album has been thrown out by a federal judge in Miami.
LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 03: Members of the public pass by the latest in a series of posters highlighting US President Donald Trump’s relationship with dead sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, on September 03, 2025 in London, England, ahead of Trump’s state visit planned for later this month. The protest group that calls itself ‘Everyone Hates Elon’ has gained notoriety by employing guerrilla tactics to install satirical ‘ads’ at bus stops across London and other venues that target political figures, with an initial focus on Elon Musk during his time in the Trump administration. Last month they orchestrated the installation of a viral meme depicting a distorted image of JD Vance on a poster in the Cotswolds, during the US Vice President’s UK holiday. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles dismissed Trump’s amended lawsuit with prejudice on Saturday, meaning Trump cannot refile it in that court. Gayles ruled Trump failed to plausibly show the defendants acted with “actual malice,” the legal standard public figures must meet to win defamation cases.
The lawsuit targeted The Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdoch, and other defendants. Gayles said the Journal’s reporting showed it investigated the letter at the center of the dispute and included Trump’s denial. The judge did not rule on whether Trump wrote the letter.
Trump sued after a July 2025 Journal story about a sexually suggestive letter included in a 2003 birthday album for Epstein. The letter appeared to bear Trump’s name and included a drawing of a naked woman. Trump denied writing or drawing the letter and called it fake.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 8: A timeline of events is illustrated on a wall on the main floor where The Institute for Primary Facts, a non-profit organization, opens a library archive of 3.5 million pages of the Epstein files that have been made available to the public at the Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Reading Room in Tribeca on May 8, 2026 in New York City. People will be able to view the files from May 8 to 21, but access will be by appointment only. (Photo by Edna Leshowitz/Getty Images)
A copy matching the Journal’s description was later released by the House Oversight Committee after it obtained the birthday book from Epstein’s estate. Trump and the White House maintain the letter is not authentic.
Gayles first dismissed the lawsuit in April but gave Trump a chance to amend it. Trump filed an amended complaint in May, which the judge dismissed Saturday.
Trump’s legal spokesperson said he would continue pursuing the case, and CNBC reported the legal team plans to appeal. Dow Jones, which publishes the Journal, said it was pleased with the ruling.
