OMM Newsroom
A US federal judge has permanently dismissed President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against “The Wall Street Journal” over its reporting on an allegedly sexually suggestive birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein that bore Trump’s name, Anadolu Agency reported Saturday.
US District Judge Darrin P. Gayles found that Trump had not plausibly shown that the newspaper acted with “actual malice” when it published the story, according to “CNN”.
Gayles rejected Trump’s argument that the newspaper should have withheld publication after Trump denied writing the letter, saying that such a requirement would violate the First Amendment.
“Were that the law, any time a public figure or his team denies an accusation, journalists would be immediately blocked from publishing negative or contradictory press,” Gayles wrote.
The judge had dismissed the lawsuit in April but allowed Trump to submit an amended complaint. Gayles later ruled that the revised filing did not address the case’s legal deficiencies and dismissed it with prejudice, preventing Trump from refiling it in the same court.
“We’re pleased with the court’s decision,” a spokesperson for “Dow Jones”, the newspaper’s parent company, said.
Trump’s legal team indicated that it planned to appeal the ruling.
Trump initially filed the $20 billion lawsuit in July 2025 against the newspaper, its parent companies, Rupert Murdoch and two reporters. The amended lawsuit sought at least $10 billion in damages.
Trump has denied writing the letter and accused the newspaper of knowingly publishing false information.
