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Judge Dismisses Trump's $10 Billion Defamation Suit Against WSJ
· Confirmed
In Short: A federal judge dismissed President Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal.
A federal judge dismissed President Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, ruling the suit was 'grasping at straws,' according to the BBC. The ruling, made by Judge Darrin Gayles, found that Trump's legal team did not prove that the defendants made defamatory statements with 'actual malice,' a requirement under the law.
Gayles dismissed the defamation lawsuit, which sought $20 billion in damages, earlier, and Trump's team refiled the suit seeking $10 billion, but the judge threw out the case 'with prejudice,' meaning the suit cannot be filed again, according to the BBC.
The Los Angeles Times reported that a federal judge dismissed President Trump’s $10-billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch on Monday over a story on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Judge Gayles found that Trump did not establish that the newspaper acted with 'actual malice' in publishing its reporting, according to Justthenews.
The standard for proving defamation, established by the Supreme Court’s landmark New York Times v. Sullivan case, requires plaintiffs to show that the defendant acted with 'actual malice,' meaning the defendant knew the statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth, as noted by Justthenews.
The judge did not rule on whether Trump wrote the letter, as noted by WXLV.
The dismissal of the case with prejudice means that Trump cannot refile the lawsuit, as reported by Newser.
The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice, putting an end to the year-long legal battle, according to TheWrap.
The case was dismissed after the judge found that Trump's lawsuit 'falls short of pleading actual malice,' as written in Gayles' opinion, according to Deadline and NewsCord.
Background
A federal judge dismissed President Donald Trump's lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal over a story about a birthday letter allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein.
What's confirmed
- A federal judge on Saturday dismissed President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch with prejudice, rejecting his amended challenge to the newspaper’s reporting on a purported birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein.
- Trump failed to prove actual malice required for defamation.
- After the woman who accused him of rape fully recanted her allegations in a sworn statement last Thursday, Jay-Z is hoping her reversal can revive his California-based extortion and defamation claims against lawyer Tony Buzbee and his law firm.
What's still developing
- The lawsuit against Carter was filed in December of 2024, and in February 2025, the case was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice after the accuser withdrew her complaint.
- The judges found that while the show does depict Schneider as a bad boss, it does not cross the line to a defamatory implication of child sex abuse.
- In a new petition for rehearing first obtained and reported by Rolling Stone, the rapper and entrepreneur, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, is asking a California appeals court to reconsider its recent refusal to reinstate his extortion and defamation lawsuit that a lower court dismissed last year.
- U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, United States, on October 2, 2026. [Kyle Mazza – Anadolu Agency] A federal judge in Florida has ordered US President Donald Trump to answer questions under oath by Dec. 11 in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC, or risk having the case dismissed, Anadolu reports.