Judge rules $10 billion suit against WSJ over Epstein letter failed

A federal judge in Miami permanently dismissed a $10 billion lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump against The Wall Street Journal and media executive Rupert Murdoch. U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles ruled on Saturday that the case is over with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. The decision determines that the defendants did not prove they published defamatory statements with the required level of actual malice.

The dispute centers on a story the newspaper published last year. The article described a sexually suggestive letter and drawing that bore Trump's name. The publication stated the item was included in a 2003 album compiled for Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday. Ghislaine Maxwell, the disgraced British socialite, reportedly collected the letter years before Epstein's 2006 arrest and subsequent falling out with the president. The text was framed by an outline of a hand-drawn naked woman and ended with the line, "Happy Birthday and may every day be another wonderful secret."

Trump denied writing the letter. He described the coverage as false, malicious, and defamatory. His legal team argued in the complaint that the Journal and its reporters knowingly and recklessly published false statements that caused overwhelming financial and reputational harm. The suit was initially dismissed in April after Gayles found the original filing failed to make a proper argument regarding intent. Trump then filed an amended complaint in May.

In the new ruling, Gayles cited the 1964 Supreme Court decision in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. That precedent makes it difficult for public figures to win libel cases by requiring proof that a media outlet knowingly published falsehoods or showed reckless disregard for the truth. Gayles wrote that the amended complaint failed to plead actual malice. He noted that the allegations were conclusory, vague, and often irrelevant to whether the defendants knew the statements were false. The judge also observed that the story informed readers that Trump decried the letter as a fake and denied writing it.

The dismissal marks a legal setback for an administration that has pursued adversarial relationships with news organizations. Beyond the Journal case, the White House is involved in litigation with the BBC, The Associated Press, and CNN. CNN, MS NOW, and Politico recently filed a suit to restore access after being banished from the White House in mid-September. Trump has frequently labeled critical media outlets as fake news and insulted their journalists.

Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. The White House did not immediately react publicly to the Saturday ruling or respond to a request for comment. The case had been filed in federal court in Miami.

Gayles stated that the lawsuit attempted to manufacture flaws in the investigative reporting. He found that the specific allegations in the amended complaint did not have merit. The ruling stands as a final determination on this specific claim against the newspaper and its owner.