A U.S. federal judge in Florida has dismissed President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal over its reporting on his links to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died in custody in 2019.
Trump launched the legal action last summer in a Miami court, accusing the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper and its parent company, News Corp, of falsehoods in a 17 July article. The piece detailed Trump’s name appearing in Epstein’s personal 2003 birthday book alongside a hand-drawn outline of a woman’s body.
The president demanded vast damages, claiming the story damaged his reputation. However, District Judge Darrin Gayles ruled that Trump failed to show the Journal acted with “actual malice,” the legal standard required for public figures in such cases. Trump’s lawyer told the BBC that the president will refile the “powerhouse” suit.
Gayles noted in his order that Trump had “not plausibly alleged that the Defendants published the Article with actual malice.” The dismissal is without prejudice, giving Trump until 27 April to submit an amended complaint.
Trump’s lawyer said the president will “continue to hold accountable those who traffic in Fake News to mislead the American People.”
The “actual malice” threshold, set by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1964 New York Times v Sullivan case, demands proof that a statement was false and published with knowledge of its falsity or reckless disregard for the truth.
The standard for “actual malice” in defamation cases is that the plaintiff must prove that a public statement was both false, and that the news organisation or individual who made the statement knew or should have known that it was false or acted in reckless disregard of its falsity.
The Journal’s exclusive report preceded by weeks a social media post from Democratic lawmakers showing the actual book page. Its details aligned precisely with the newspaper’s account, although no image appeared in the original story.
Trump dismissed the entry as “a fake thing” and insisted he did not write it. The ledger reflects Epstein’s ties to figures like Trump during their shared Palm Beach social scene in the 1990s and early 2000s, before Trump said they parted ways over a property dispute.
This is not Trump’s first clash with media outlets. He settled a separate suit against ABC News for $15 million last year. Experts say strong First Amendment protections make defamation victories elusive for public officials.