Judge Dismisses Trump Suit Against Wall Street Journal Over Epstein Birthday-Letter

Authored by Tom Gantert via The Epoch Times,

A federal judge on Oct. 31 dismissed President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal’s publisher and other defendants over an article about a birthday letter allegedly sent to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles in Miami ruled that Trump failed to adequately allege actual malice, the standard requiring public figures to show defendants published information knowing it was false or recklessly disregarding whether it was false.

The dismissal was with prejudice, meaning Trump cannot file another amended complaint. Trump had sought $10 billion in the lawsuit.

In his ruling, Gayles wrote that Trump was “grasping at straws.”

The judge noted that Trump’s complaint said the defendants only “reviewed” the letter but did not have a copy of it in their possession.

“The Court cannot discern any substantive difference – and certainly not one that would establish actual malice – between Defendants reviewing the Letter before publication and obtaining a copy of the Letter. Defendants reviewed the Letter and later reported on its contents. Nothing in the law suggests that Defendants needed to obtain, retain, or publish a copy,” Gayles wrote.

The July 2025 article by the Wall Street Journal described a letter bearing Trump’s name in an album assembled for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003. According to the article, the letter included typewritten text framed by a drawing of a naked woman.

Trump denied writing the letter, drawing the image, or signing it. The judge’s ruling stated that during an interview with the Department of Justice, Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate of Epstein’s, said, “subject to penalty of perjury for lying to a federal officer,” that she did not remember Trump submitting a letter for Epstein’s 50th birthday.

Trump sued on July 18, 2025, and filed an amended complaint in May after the court dismissed his original complaint.

In August 2025, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform subpoenaed the Epstein estate for all letters in the birthday book. The Epstein estate complied and included a copy of the birthday book. The court also found a letter that matched the description in the Wall Street Journal article.

Gayles rejected Trump’s argument that publishing despite his denials demonstrated actual malice. The judge noted that the Wall Street Journal included Trump’s denials.

“In effect, President Trump argues that once he declared the Letter a ‘fake,’ Defendants should have disregarded everything else they learned in their investigation and not published the story. But that is not what the actual malice standard requires and runs afoul of the First Amendment,” Gayles wrote, adding, “the article details a thoughtful and detailed investigation.”

The judge wrote that if that were the law, journalists would be immediately blocked from publishing negative or contradictory press any time a public figure or his team denies an accusation.

The Wall Street Journal also did not ignore Trump’s denial but allowed readers to make up their own minds.

The judge cited reporters’ efforts to contact Trump, his team, Justice Department officials, the FBI, Maxwell, and others involved with the birthday album.

The defendants include Dow Jones, News Corp., Rupert Murdoch, Robert Thomson and journalists Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo.

Gayles left unresolved whether defendants could recover attorneys’ fees under state laws protecting against lawsuits targeting public participation. He gave them 30 days to file a motion addressing which state’s law applies and whether they qualify for reimbursement of their legal expenses.

Citing an 11th Circuit ruling, Gayles said requiring publishers to defend groundless defamation lawsuits through costly discovery could discourage reporting on public figures and undermine First Amendment protections.

The White House referred an Epoch Times request for comment to Trump’s personal counsel.