On Saturday, 31st October, a US court dismissed President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal with prejudice. The case concerned the newspaper’s report about a birthday letter sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The decision means Trump cannot amend or file the same lawsuit again. US District Judge Darrin P. Gayles issued the final dismissal on Saturday, ruling that Trump’s amended complaint failed to establish “actual malice”, a legal requirement in defamation cases involving public figures.
A federal judge threw out Donald Trump’s renewed $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and ruled that it can’t be filed again https://t.co/erfjerzZoM
— Bloomberg (@business) October 31, 2026
The dismissal comes after the court had rejected Trump’s original complaint in April but allowed him to file an amended version. However, the judge found that the revised complaint still did not meet the required legal standard.
Court says Trump failed to establish ‘actual malice’
In its ruling, the court said Trump had not sufficiently shown that the defendants had made defamatory statements with actual malice. “As President Trump has not plausibly alleged that each Defendant made defamatory statements with actual malice, the Amended Complaint must be dismissed,” the order stated.
The judge further said, “And because this is President Trump’s second attempt to allege his claims, the Court finds that dismissal with prejudice is appropriate.”
The case centred on a Wall Street Journal report published on 17th July, 2025, under the headline, “Jeffrey Epstein’s Friends Sent Him Bawdy Letters for a 50th Birthday Album. One Was From Donald Trump.”
The newspaper reported that Trump had sent Epstein a “bawdy” letter in 2003 for his 50th birthday. Trump denied writing the letter and claimed that it was fabricated.
During the proceedings, the court pointed to the newspaper’s attempts to seek Trump’s response before publishing the report. It also noted that the Journal had included his denials in its coverage. The newspaper’s representatives argued that the report was accurate and that its journalists had neither knowingly published false information nor acted with the belief that the material was likely to be false.
Trump’s legal team says he will continue the fight
Following the dismissal, a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said the President would continue pursuing the matter. “President Trump will continue to press forward in his powerhouse lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and all of the other defendants. The President will continue to hold those who mislead the American People with Fake News and smears accountable for their actions,” the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for Dow Jones, the Journal’s publisher, responded to the ruling by saying, “We’re pleased with the court’s decision.”
The lawsuit had attracted attention because Trump had also named media mogul Rupert Murdoch among the defendants. Murdoch’s News Corporation owns the Wall Street Journal and has been considered one of Trump’s prominent media allies. Before the report was published, Trump had personally contacted Murdoch in an attempt to stop its publication.
The newspaper did not initially publish an image of the letter. The House Oversight Committee later released the image in September after it received the material from Epstein’s estate.
Trump has repeatedly taken legal action against media organisations, accusing them of publishing false or misleading reports about him. The latest ruling, however, closes this particular defamation case after the court rejected his second attempt to establish the claims.
