US judge dismisses $10bn Trump defamation suit against Wall Street Journal

In a recent decision, a U.S. federal judge in Florida has thrown out a $10 billion defamation lawsuit filed by former President Donald Trump against the Wall Street Journal and its parent company, News Corp., which is owned by Rupert Murdoch.

The lawsuit centered on a July 17 article published by the Wall Street Journal, which alleged that Trump’s name appeared in a 2003 “birthday book” associated with Epstein. The report also claimed that Trump had included a sketch of a female figure in the document.

According to Trump’s legal team, the president intends to refile the “powerhouse” lawsuit against the WSJ and its owners, as stated to CBS News, the BBC’s U.S. partner.

Trump’s legal representative emphasized that the president “will continue to hold accountable those who traffic in Fake News to mislead the American People.”

U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles ruled that Trump had not sufficiently demonstrated that the WSJ published the article with deliberate intent to harm his reputation. The dismissal was without prejudice, allowing Trump to resubmit an amended claim by April 27.

Judge Gayles cited the lack of plausible evidence that the defendants published the article with actual malice as the reason for dismissal. The WSJ, under News Corp., released investigative reports during the summer linking Trump to Epstein through the birthday book. Democratic lawmakers shared an image of the note on social media before other Epstein-related documents were made public. While the WSJ initially omitted the note’s image, the written details in its report aligned with the picture released by legislators. Trump called the message “a fake thing” and asserted he did not author it.