Judge permanently dismisses Trump’s $10 billion defamation suit against Wall Street Journal
publishers 33articles 35first reported 31 Oct, 20:45 UTCtop 25 #9
A federal judge in Miami on Saturday dismissed with prejudice President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdoch and other defendants over the newspaper’s reporting on a purported birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein.
U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles ruled that Trump’s amended complaint again failed to plausibly allege that the defendants acted with “actual malice,” the standard public figures must meet in defamation cases. In a 20-page ruling, Gayles wrote that the complaint was “grasping at straws” and attempted to “manufacture flaws” in the Journal’s investigation. The dismissal with prejudice prevents Trump from filing the claims again in federal court.
The Journal reported in July 2025 that a sexually suggestive letter bearing Trump’s name appeared in an album assembled for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003. Trump has denied writing or signing the letter and called the report false and defamatory. Gayles did not decide whether Trump authored it.
Gayles previously dismissed an earlier version of the lawsuit in April but allowed Trump to amend the complaint. He concluded that the revised filing still did not establish that the Journal published information knowing it was false or with reckless disregard for its accuracy.
A Dow Jones spokesperson said the company was pleased with the decision. A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said the president would continue pursuing the case, and CNBC reported that he plans to appeal.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 5 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 6 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
- Publishers
- 33
- Source articles
- 35
- Given to the writer
- 8, 5 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 8
- This version written
- 6 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- kept as written
- Publication gate
- passed
- Human review
- none
WHAT THE EDITOR DID
The second model checked the writer's draft against the same sources and published it as written.
Written by a language model from the sources above, then checked by a second model that may only cut, attribute or correct. How it works →