Politics · Developing story
'Grasping at straws': Judge dismisses Trump suit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein letter
NewsAgo briefing
The clear picture
What happened
U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami dismissed with prejudice President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch. The suit challenged an article about a birthday-book letter purportedly written and signed by Trump for Jeffrey Epstein.
Latest development
Saying the president was "grasping at straws," a federal judge on Saturday threw out Donald Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch over a story reporting on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Why it matters
Gayles ruled that Trump had not shown the defendants acted with actual malice, the standard identified by PBS NewsHour. A dismissal with prejudice closes this version of Trump’s claim in the trial court.
Known / unclear
The available accounts do not establish whether the purported Epstein birthday-book letter was authentic, nor do they state Trump’s next legal move.
NewsAgo wrote this briefing with an AI language model, using only the attributed reports listed below. Automated checks require every point to cite one of those reports and reject generic or unsupported text. How we use AI
Sources
Compiled from 6 independent publishers NPR · BBC News · Al Jazeera · PBS NewsHour · Sky News · CBS News
NPR characterizes the disputed Wall Street Journal article as concerning Trump’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein, while BBC News and PBS NewsHour describe it more specifically as a purported birthday-book letter.
- NPR'Grasping at straws': Judge dismisses Trump suit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein letter ↗
- BBC NewsJudge dismisses Trump's lawsuit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein birthday book ↗
- Al JazeeraTrump loses legal battle over Epstein-linked Wall Street Journal case ↗
- PBS NewsHourJudge dismisses Trump suit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein birthday letter ↗
- Sky NewsJudge dismisses Trump's Wall Street Journal lawsuit ↗
- CBS NewsJudge dismisses with prejudice Trump lawsuit against Wall Street Journal ↗
The big question
Will Trump seek to challenge Judge Gayles’s dismissal?
The available accounts do not say whether Trump plans an appeal or any other legal step.
What happens next
- Any appeal filing by Trump following Judge Darrin Gayles’s with-prejudice dismissal.
- The written ruling by Judge Darrin Gayles explaining the actual-malice finding in the case against The Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch.
Bottom line
The ruling is a significant courtroom defeat for Trump because the judge found the required showing of actual malice was not met and dismissed the case with prejudice.
Explore timelines and source history
Developing story: This developing story groups reporting from 6 publishers. The timeline shows how the coverage has changed.
What the coverage shows
Three or more independent publishers are reporting this development. Wording and emphasis may differ; open the source timeline to compare their reporting.
Compare the publisher timeline ↓Story evolution
- Headline updated
Saying the president was "grasping at straws," a federal judge on Saturday threw out Donald Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch over a story reporting on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
4 sources at this update - Headline updated
Trump had sued the media outlet after it published a letter to Epstein purportedly written and signed by the president as part of a birthday book.
5 sources at this update - Headline updated
Judge permanently drops Trump's $10bn WSJ lawsuit, ruling he failed to prove actual malice in the newspaper's reporting.
3 sources at this update - Headline updated
U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami dismissed the suit with prejudice, ruling that the president did not prove the defendants made defamatory statements with actual malice as required by law.
2 sources at this update - First reported
In a 20-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami dismissed the suit with prejudice, ruling that President Trump did not prove the defendants made defamatory statements with actual malice.
1 source at this update