Judge permanently dismisses Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against Wall Street Journal

U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles dismissed Donald Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch on Saturday with prejudice. The decision bars the case from being refiled. Gayles called the legal action "grasping at straws" and found that the president did not meet the legal standard for proving the defendants published defamatory statements with actual malice.

The ruling marks the end of a dispute that began when the newspaper published a story about a sexually suggestive letter and drawing attributed to Trump. The paper reported that the items were part of a 2003 album compiled for Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday. Ghislaine Maxwell, who was disgraced at the time, reportedly collected the letter for that album. The text was framed by a drawing of a naked woman and ended with the phrase "Happy Birthday and may every day be another wonderful secret."

Trump denied writing the letter and labeled the coverage false, malicious, and defamatory. His original complaint, filed in federal court in Miami, accused the Journal and its reporters of knowingly and recklessly publishing false statements. The suit alleged that the reporting caused overwhelming financial and reputational harm to the president. Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019, had previously had a falling out with Trump before his first arrest in 2006.

This is the second time Gayles has ruled in favor of the defendants. He first dismissed the suit in April, noting that Trump failed to argue the article was published with malicious intent. The judge allowed the president to file an amended complaint, which Trump did in May. In Saturday's final decision, Gayles cited the 1964 Supreme Court decision in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. That ruling requires public figures to prove that media outlets knowingly published false information or showed reckless disregard for the truth.

Gayles wrote that the amended complaint fell short of pleading actual malice. He described the allegations regarding malice as conclusory, vague, and sometimes inconsistent with the article. The judge also noted that the newspaper did not ignore Trump's denial. The story informed readers that the president decried the letter as a fake and denied writing it.

The dismissal adds to a series of legal and public clashes between the Trump administration and news organizations. The White House did not immediately react publicly to the decision or respond to a request for comment. Trump is currently involved in lawsuits with the BBC, The Associated Press, CNN, MS NOW, and Politico. Those outlets are suing for restored access after Trump banished them from the White House in mid-September. He frequently calls critical outlets fake news and insults their journalists.

The judge found that several other allegations in the lawsuit lacked merit. The dismissal with prejudice means the case is permanently closed. The ruling stands as a definitive legal rejection of the claims that the Journal's investigative reporting was flawed by design.