A Florida judge has dismissed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit brought by Donald Trump against The Wall Street Journal over a report concerning a letter to Jeffrey Epstein, but has allowed the former US president two weeks to refile the case with additional evidence.
Dismissal Centres on Failure to Prove “Actual Malice”
Judge Darrin P. Gayles, presiding in the Southern District of Florida, ruled on Monday that the complaint “fails to adequately allege actual malice”. This is the critical legal standard required for defamation claims brought by public figures, established in the landmark 1964 Supreme Court case New York Times v. Sullivan.
To succeed, Trump’s legal team needed to prove that the newspaper published its story knowing it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth. Judge Gayles found the complaint fell short of this high bar. He noted evidence that the Journal had sought to determine whether the drawing in question was genuine. The fact that Trump claimed it was fake, the judge argued, did not demonstrate the publishers acted “with serious doubts” about the story’s veracity. “Because President Trump has not plausibly alleged that defendants published the article with actual malice, both counts must be dismissed,” Judge Gayles wrote.
The lawsuit, filed in July 2025, targeted the Journal, its publisher Dow Jones & Company, parent company News Corp, CEO Robert Thomson, chairman emeritus Rupert Murdoch, and reporters Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo. It alleged defamation over a report published on 17 July, 2025, titled “Jeffrey Epstein’s Friends Sent Him Bawdy Letters for a 50th Birthday Album. One Was From Donald Trump.”
The article described a typewritten message in a leather-bound album compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003. The letter, allegedly signed by Trump, was framed by a hand-drawn outline of a naked woman, with the signature placed below the waist in a manner alleged to mimic pubic hair. The message read: “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.” Trump has consistently denied authorship, stating he does not draw pictures and that the language was not his.
Representatives for Dow Jones said in a statement: “We are pleased with the judge’s decision to dismiss this complaint. We stand behind the reliability, rigor and accuracy of The Wall Street Journal’s reporting.”
Path Open for Refiled Lawsuit
While dismissing the current complaint, Judge Gayles granted Trump’s legal team leave to refile until 27 April 2026. The order noted that Trump’s team had not provided evidence or allegations of special damages in the initial filing. Any new filing would need to present additional evidence that the Journal published its claim while knowing it was false or likely to be false.
A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said: “President Trump will follow Judge Gayles’s ruling and guidance to refile this powerhouse lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and all of the other defendants. The president will continue to hold accountable those who traffic in fake news to mislead the American people.”
Trump echoed this on his Truth Social platform, writing: “Our powerful case against The Wall Street Journal, and other defendants, was asked to be re-filed by the Judge. It is not a termination, it is a suggested re-filing.”
The case gained further context in September 2025 when the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which had subpoenaed Epstein’s estate, published the birthday album materials online. This release appeared to corroborate the Journal’s initial reporting, which had not originally published the image of the letter.
The lawsuit was notable for including Rupert Murdoch, a longstanding media ally of Trump, as a defendant. Trump had reportedly called Murdoch personally in an attempt to prevent the story’s publication. The case also unfolded amid broader scrutiny of the Trump administration’s handling of Epstein-related files.
This action forms part of a pattern of legal action by Trump against media organisations. He maintains an active $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC concerning the editing of a documentary about his conduct surrounding the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. His administration has also been sued by several media companies, including Colorado Public Radio, over First Amendment issues, and he has previously reached substantial settlements with CBS and ABC over reporting he alleged was defamatory.
