MIAMI, Nov. 1 — A United States federal court has permanently dismissed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit brought by Donald Trump against The Wall Street Journal and media proprietor Rupert Murdoch, ruling that the former president failed to plausibly allege “actual malice” regarding an investigative report detailing his past interactions with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
In a comprehensive written dismissal order, U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles concluded that Trump’s legal arguments amounted to “grasping at straws.” Judge Gayles determined that Trump’s amended complaint offered only conclusory, speculative, and inconsistent allegations that failed to meet the strict legal threshold established under U.S. constitutional law for public figures claiming libel against media organizations. The ruling emphasized that plaintiff attorneys had engaged in strained interpretations to manufacture purported discrepancies in the newspaper’s reporting.
The legal clash originated from an investigative report published by The Wall Street Journal on July 17, 2025. The article referenced a 2003 greeting message sent for Epstein’s 50th birthday, which featured a suggestive sketch of a female figure and bore what appeared to be Trump’s signature. The correspondence was reportedly among materials compiled by Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for sex trafficking crimes.
Trump consistently denied authoring the note, creating the sketch, or providing the signature, branding the article defamatory and filing suit in federal court in Miami on July 18, 2025.
Claiming reputational harm and commercial damages, Trump sought $10 billion in restitution. While the court initially dismissed the complaint in April with leave to amend, Trump’s revised filing in May failed to address core legal deficiencies. Judge Gayles subsequently dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, permanently barring the claims from being refiled in federal court.
Past reporting documented that Trump distanced himself from Epstein around 2005 following disputes concerning employee poaching at his Mar-a-Lago club. The dismissal marks the conclusion of one of Trump’s most high-profile legal challenges against international news organizations, alongside ongoing defamation actions targeting outlets including the BBC and The New York Times.