Another setback for Trump? Judge dismisses US president’s $10 billion lawsuit against WSJ: Everything you need to know | Today’s news
A federal judge has thrown out his $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch, marking another setback for US President Donald Trump, saying Trump was “grasping at straws”.
The lawsuit against the WSJ was filed in connection with its coverage of Trump’s ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in his prison cell while awaiting trial in August 2019.
Read also | Judge dismisses Trump’s $10 billion defamation suit against WSJ over Epstein report
What did the court decide?
U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, saying the U.S. president had failed to prove the media made defamatory statements with actual malice, as required by law. The ruling further stated that the suit attempted to “manufacture” errors in its investigative reports.
Gayles also rejected Trump’s argument that the WSJ should have withheld its story after he denied writing the letter, noting that such a demand would violate the First Amendment. He wrote: “If this were the law, whenever a public figure or his team denied the allegations, journalists would be immediately blocked from publishing negative or contradictory press.
In April, a Miami judge also dismissed the $20 billion lawsuit, finding that the “exemplary” allegations of malice in the original complaint “none meet” the legal standard required of a public figure.
While a spokesman for Dow Jones, the WSJ’s parent company, said the company was satisfied with the court’s decision, Trump’s legal team indicated it planned to challenge the ruling. According to CNN, a Trump spokesman said the president “will continue to pursue his executive order against the Wall Street Journal and all other defendants.”
Read also | Trump Sues Wall Street Journal Publisher Dow Jones Over Jeffrey Epstein Article
Why did Trump sue the WSJ?
In July 2025, the US president sued the media outlet, its parent company Murdoch and two reporters after it was reported that he had written a sexually suggestive letter to Epstein. The letter included a drawing, reportedly bore Trump’s name, and was included in a 2003 album compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday. Trump denied writing it and accused the site of knowingly publishing a false story.
Ghislaine Maxwell, a disgraced British socialite, reportedly collected the letter for an album on Epstein’s birthday. The collection dates back to before his first arrest in 2006 and subsequent split with Trump.
According to the newspaper, the letter with Trump’s name contains text surrounded by what appears to be a hand-drawn outline of a naked woman. It ends with “Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
The lawsuit, filed in Miami, accused the WSJ and its reporters of “knowingly and recklessly” publishing “numerous false, defamatory and disparaging statements” that it said caused the president “tremendous financial and reputational harm.”
Read also | Videos of Trump and Epstein projected onto Washington hotel building
What other media has Trump sued?
During his second term, the US president has also sued several other media outlets, including filing a $15 billion defamation suit against The New York Times over its coverage of his 2024 election campaign. The original complaint was dismissed last year; however, Trump was allowed to refile. In July, a judge delayed a decision on the NYT’s request to dismiss the case and ordered Trump to amend his complaint once more. Trump filed a revised complaint in August.
He also sued the BBC for $10 billion for editing one of his January 6, 2021 speeches in a documentary about the attack on the Capitol.
