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Judge dismisses Trump's $10 billion suit over WSJ story on Epstein birthday letter

The judge finds Trump did not plausibly allege actual malice and bars refiling, while his legal team says it will press on.

24 news outlets reported this
Liberal10 outletsCenter10 outletsConservative4 outlets
Published 4 min read
Overview

A federal judge in Miami threw out President Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the WSJ on Saturday, Oct. 31. Also sued were its parent company Dow Jones, Rupert Murdoch and others. The suit concerned a story published in July 2025.

It described a letter bearing Trump's name in a 2003 album that Ghislaine Maxwell compiled for Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday. U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles dismissed the amended complaint with prejudice, which means it cannot be refiled. He ruled that Trump had not plausibly alleged "actual malice," the legal standard for public figures, which requires knowing falsehood or reckless disregard for the truth.

The 20-page ruling called the suit "grasping at straws." Trump denies writing the letter and calls it fake. The judge noted the article reported Trump's denial.

He did not decide whether Trump wrote the letter. Gayles had dismissed Trump's first complaint in April and allowed an amended one, filed in May. A spokesperson for Trump's legal team said the president "will continue to press forward" in the case, and a source familiar with legal strategy told CBS News an appeal is likely.

A Dow Jones spokesperson said the company is pleased with the decision. According to Straight Arrow News, the defendants' request for attorneys' fees remains open.

Three sides of the story

Liberal10 outlets

Left-leaning outlets lead with the judge's rejection of Trump's claim. HuffPost quotes the ruling that Trump was "grasping at straws," calls the dismissal "a blow to Trump" and his administration, and places it among his other fights with news organizations, including cases involving the BBC, the Associated Press, CNN, MS NOW and Politico. NBC News details the card at the center of the case.

It reports that Epstein's estate later released a copy matching the paper's description and that Trump and the White House maintain it is fake. NBC adds that Democrats gathered documents on which Trump signed only his first name, and that those signatures "appear very similar" to the signature on the card. CBS News reports the 20-page ruling and carries the response of Trump's legal team, which says the president will "continue to press forward," along with a source who says an appeal is likely.

CBS also includes then-press secretary Karoline Leavitt's statement that Trump "did not draw this picture."

Center10 outlets

Centrist outlets concentrate on the ruling and its legal reasoning. BBC News opens with the dismissal and the judge's "grasping at straws" description. Further down, it reports that he rejected the argument that Trump's denial should have stopped publication, calling that contrary to the , and it quotes his reference to the paper's "thoughtful and detailed" investigation.

Straight Arrow News reports what the ruling covered. Gayles found that Trump failed to adequately allege actual malice and that the claim for special damages named no specific financial losses. He did not decide whether Trump wrote the letter or whether the article was true or defamatory.

The outlet also notes that the defendants have 30 days to seek attorneys' fees. Axios adds a "Why it matters" note that courts again held Trump to the high bar for public-figure defamation claims, and it quotes the judge calling the malice allegations "conclusory, vague." UPI is brief.

It reports the ruling, a Trump spokesperson's statement to the Guardian, and Dow Jones saying "We're pleased with the court's decision."

Conservative4 outlets

Right-leaning outlets report the dismissal alongside the judge's own words. The Daily Caller opens by saying the judge "permanently shut down" the suit. It draws on CBS News, the Associated Press and the New York Times for the case history and includes Trump's denial to the paper, "This is not me.

This is a fake thing." It says Trump's lawyers "showed no sign of retreat" and notes his active cases against the BBC and the New York Times. Reason publishes excerpts from Gayles's opinion.

It opens with the Brandeis passage, quoted in Sullivan, that "public discussion is a political duty." It then walks through the exchanges before publication: Leavitt, then White House press secretary, called back the person who had emailed her and said the "subject matter" of the planned article was false, and Trump told Murdoch he had not signed or sent the letter. The Washington Times reports that the judge found Trump did not overcome the press protections of the First Amendment.

Where outlets disagree
  • How much the original July 2025 lawsuit sought
    • UPI: Trump first sued the Journal seeking $10 billion in July 2025.
    • Axios: Trump first filed suit in July 2025 seeking $20 billion in damages.
    • BBC News: The first lawsuit sought $20 billion, and the refiled suit sought $10 billion.
All sources: 25 articles from 24 outlets

Liberal (10)

Center (11)

Conservative (4)

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First Amendment

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