A federal judge on Saturday for the second time dismissed President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the publisher of the Wall Street Journal for the newspaper’s 2025 reporting on a bawdy birthday gift sent decades ago to Jeffrey Epstein, who was later convicted as a sex offender.
U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles, an Obama appointee to the federal bench in South Florida, threw out the case in April but did so without prejudice — meaning the case could be refiled.
The president’s personal lawyers filed a revised version of the lawsuit in May, but Gayles on Saturday said the amended lawsuit didn’t adequately show that the Journal published the story knowing it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth — the standard for defamation against public figures, known as actual malice.
Gayles wrote that the allegations that the newspaper acted with malice were “conclusory” and “vague.”
Gayles dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning that the case cannot be refiled.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said it would appeal the ruling.
“President Trump will continue to press forward in his powerhouse lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and all of the other defendants,” the spokesperson said. “The President will continue to hold those who mislead the American People with Fake News and smears accountable for their actions.”
A Dow Jones spokesperson said, “We’re pleased with the court’s decision.”
Trump’s suit had named as defendants the Journal’s publisher, Dow Jones; its parent company, News Corp.; and chief executive Robert Thomson, along with majority owner Rupert Murdoch, plus reporters Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo.
The Journal reported in July 2025 that a letter and drawing of a naked woman signed by “Donald” was contributed to a 2003 birthday book for Epstein. Trump denied that he had written the letter or drawn the picture.
In 2019, Epstein killed himself in jail after being charged with sex trafficking.
Upon filing suit in 2025, Trump wrote on social media that the article was “false, malicious, defamatory, FAKE NEWS” and called the Journal a “useless ‘rag.’” In his suit, Trump sought $10 billion in damages.
A Dow Jones spokesperson at the time said the company had “full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting.”
For articles on Epstein by reporters Safdar and Palazzolo, the Journal was in 2026 a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, considered the top honor in journalism.
Trump had a long-standing friendship with Epstein, and the president has said the two had a falling-out in the mid-2000s. Authorities have not accused Trump of participating in Epstein’s criminal conduct.
Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to two charges of soliciting prostitution, including one involving a minor. He was arrested on federal sex-trafficking charges in 2019 and died in federal custody that year. His death was ruled a suicide. Judges and lawmakers say that over decades, he abused, trafficked and molested scores of girls, many of whom have come forward in court and in other public forums.
The post Judge tosses Trump’s lawsuit over Wall Street Journal’s Epstein article appeared first on Washington Post.
