Trump loses legal battle over Epstein-linked Wall Street Journal case
A federal judge has permanently dismissed US President Donald Trump’s multibillion-dollar defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch, ruling he failed to prove the newspaper’s reporting was made with actual malice.
Judge Darrin Gayles permanently dismissed the case with prejudice, effectively blocking any future litigation on the matter.
The ruling came after Trump’s legal team failed to prove that The Wall Street Journal knowingly published false information or acted with reckless disregard for its accuracy.
In his written opinion, Judge Gayles criticized the president’s arguments, stating that the allegations regarding malice were conclusory, vague, and often irrelevant to the claims.
Background of the case
The lawsuit centered on a July 17, 2025, Wall Street Journal article that described a sexually suggestive birthday note gifted to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003.
The note, reportedly collected by Ghislaine Maxwell, included typed text framed by a hand-drawn outline of a woman and Trump’s signature at the bottom.
Trump vehemently denied responsibility for the text, the signature, and the artwork, calling the coverage 'false, malicious, and defamatory'.
The article surfaced at a time when Trump’s second administration faced intense scrutiny over whether it had withheld documents related to Epstein’s alleged sex crimes.
Legal arguments and ruling
Trump’s lawsuit, filed in federal court in Miami on July 18, 2025, accused the paper and its reporters of knowingly and recklessly publishing numerous false statements.
The lawsuit alleged overwhelming financial and reputational harm to the president, naming two journalists associated with the article as defendants.
In April, Judge Gayles initially dismissed the case, ruling that Trump had failed to prove the reporting was borne of actual malice.
Trump refiled his complaint in May, arguing that the newspaper had been reckless in not showing how reporters had received and verified the letter.
The Amended Complaint falls short of pleading actual malice.
Gayles further suggested that Trump’s legal team had attempted to 'manufacture flaws with the investigation' published in The Wall Street Journal.
Epstein's legacy and Trump's response
The case is part of a broader narrative surrounding Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier convicted of soliciting a minor for sex in 2008.
Epstein was found dead in his New York City jail cell in 2019, with his death ruled a suicide.
Legal advocates estimate Epstein’s victims number in the hundreds, and his associates, including Maxwell, have faced significant legal consequences.
Trump has said he ended his relationship with Epstein after the financier 'stole' female employees from his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Despite the ruling, Trump has other ongoing defamation cases against media outlets, including the BBC and The New York Times.
Related
