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.
U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles’ decision bars Trump from refiling the same claims, although he may appeal. Reuters confirmed the dismissal, citing a court filing.
According to Guardian media reporter Jeremy Barr’s account of the ruling, Gayles found that the amended complaint failed to adequately allege actual malice, describing its allegations as vague, conclusory and sometimes inconsistent with the article.
The ruling also criticized the lawsuit as “grasping at straws” and attempting to “manufacture” flaws in the Journal’s investigation, The Associated Press reported.
Trump sued in July 2025 after the Journal described a sexually suggestive letter bearing his name in an album assembled for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003. Trump denied writing or signing the letter and accused the newspaper of publishing defamatory claims.
Gayles had previously dismissed Trump’s original complaint while allowing him to amend it. The new ruling closes that opportunity to revise and refile the claims in the trial court.
The judge had not decided whether the defendants were entitled to recover legal fees, Barr reported separately. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Axios.
The judge had not decided whether the defendants were entitled to recover legal fees, Barr reported separately. A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said the president would continue pursuing the lawsuit against the Journal and the other defendants, according to Axios.
This is a developing story. Sources: Reuters, The Associated Press, Axios and Jeremy Barr’s reporting on X.
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