Judge Again Tosses Out Donald Trump’s $10 Billion Lawsuit Against The Wall Street Journal Over Its Reporting On Jeffrey Epstein Birthday Letter

A federal judge has again dismissed Donald Trump‘s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal over its reporting on a letter sent to Jeffrey Epstein for his birthday in 2003.

U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles wrote in his opinion that Trump’s lawsuit “falls short of pleading actual malice. Indeed, the allegations regarding malice are conclusory, vague, sometimes inconsistent with the Article, and often irrelevant to whether Defendants knew or should have known that the statements in the Article were purportedly false.”

Trump sued the Journal as welll as a series of other defendants, including Rupert Murdoch, after it published an article in 2025 reporting on the contents of a bawdy letter bearing Trump’s name and included in a “birthday book” compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday. Trump has claimed that he did not compose the letter.

The judge previously tossed out Trump’s case, but allowed it to be amended. His latest ruling, though, is with prejudice, meaning the same claim cannot be refiled.

Trump intends to appeal the ruling.

A spokesman for the president’s legal team said the president “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.”