{"id":12855,"date":"2026-10-31T22:48:02","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T22:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=12855"},"modified":"2026-10-31T22:48:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T22:48:02","slug":"trump-loses-legal-battle-over-epstein-linked-wall-street-journal-case-donald-trump-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=12855","title":{"rendered":"Trump loses legal battle over Epstein-linked Wall Street Journal case | Donald Trump News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A federal judge has permanently dismissed United States President Donald Trump\u2019s multibillion-dollar defamation lawsuit<\/a> against media mogul Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, US District Judge Darrin Gayles concluded that the president had failed to establish the standard of \u201cactual malice\u201d required for defamation suits.<\/p>\n

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Under US law, a successful complaint must show that the defendant released a defamatory statement knowing it was false or with \u201creckless disregard\u201d for its accuracy.<\/p>\n

Gayles, however, said that Trump was \u201cgrasping at straws\u201d with his $10bn case against The Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Amended Complaint falls short of pleading actual malice,\u201d Gayles wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndeed, the allegations regarding malice are conclusory, vague, sometimes inconsistent with the Article and often irrelevant to whether Defendants knew or should have known that the statements in the Article were purportedly false.\u201d<\/p>\n

The judge went so far as to suggest that Trump\u2019s legal team had attempted \u201cto manufacture flaws with the investigation\u201d published in The Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n

The case stemmed from coverage that linked Trump to the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender<\/a> Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n

On July 17, 2025, The Wall Street Journal published an exclusive describing a sexually suggestive birthday note<\/a> gifted to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003, as part of a book of congratulatory letters.<\/p>\n

The letters were reportedly collected by disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell<\/a>, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for her involvement in Epstein\u2019s sex-trafficking scheme.<\/p>\n

The note attributed to Trump includes typed text framed by a hand-drawn outline of what appears to be a curvaceous woman. At the bottom, where her pelvic region might be, is Trump\u2019s signature.<\/p>\n

Trump vehemently denied responsibility for the text, the signature and the artwork. A copy of the birthday letter was later released through the House Oversight Committee.<\/p>\n

The Wall Street Journal\u2019s article came at a time when Trump\u2019s second administration was facing intense scrutiny over whether it had withheld documents about Epstein\u2019s alleged sex crimes, despite promises of transparency.<\/p>\n

Critics had also raised questions about the nature of Trump and Epstein\u2019s relationship. The two men appear to have socialised together, and Epstein was known to have surrounded himself with powerful figures from politics, academia and the business world.<\/p>\n

In 2025, Trump said he ended his relationship with Epstein after the financier \u201cstole\u201d female employees from his Mar-a-Lago resort.<\/p>\n

Epstein was convicted of soliciting a minor for sex in Florida in 2008, for which he served 13 months in jail. In 2019, he faced federal charges related to sex trafficking, but he was found dead in his New York City jail cell before he could be brought to trial. His death was later ruled a suicide.<\/p>\n

Legal advocates say Epstein\u2019s victims are estimated to number in the hundreds.<\/p>\n

After the release of The Wall Street Journal report, Trump branded the newspaper\u2019s coverage \u201cfalse, malicious, and defamatory\u201d.<\/p>\n

His lawsuit, filed in the federal court in Miami on July 18, 2025, accused the paper and its reporters of having \u201cknowingly and recklessly\u201d published \u201cnumerous false, defamatory, and disparaging statements\u201d.<\/p>\n

The result, it alleged, was \u201coverwhelming financial and reputational harm\u201d to the president. Two journalists associated with The Wall Street Journal article were named among the defendants.<\/p>\n

In April, Judge Gayles dismissed the defamation lawsuit, ruling that Trump had failed to prove the reporting was borne of \u201cactual malice\u201d.<\/p>\n

But that initial ruling gave Trump the opportunity to refile his complaint, which he did in May.<\/p>\n

The updated lawsuit claimed The Wall Street Journal had been reckless in not showing how reporters had received and verified the letter.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s Miami ruling deals a final blow to Trump\u2019s attempt to sue over the issue. Gayles\u2019s decision dismisses the case \u201cwith prejudice\u201d, which effectively blocks any future litigation on the matter.<\/p>\n

Trump has other ongoing defamation cases against other media outlets, including the BBC and The New York Times.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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A federal judge has permanently dismissed United States President Donald Trump\u2019s multibillion-dollar defamation lawsuit against media mogul Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal. On Saturday, US District Judge Darrin Gayles concluded that the president had failed to establish the standard of \u201cactual malice\u201d required for defamation suits. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t