Judge Darrin Gayles dismissed the high-profile defamation action with prejudice after Donald Trump failed on two separate occasions to establish actual malice by the news outlet. The lawsuit originated from a July 2025 investigative article describing a signed birthday greeting and drawing allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein. While Trump consistently denied the claims and labeled them a hoax, the House Oversight Committee later published a copy of the disputed note.
Key points
Trump failed to meet the legal burden of demonstrating actual malice by Rupert Murdoch an…: Trump failed to meet the legal burden of demonstrating actual malice by Rupert Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal.
The House Oversight Committee publicly released a copy of the controversial birthday note…: The House Oversight Committee publicly released a copy of the controversial birthday note following bipartisan scrutiny.
Trump maintains he engaged in no wrongdoing and faces no criminal charges connected to th…: Trump maintains he engaged in no wrongdoing and faces no criminal charges connected to the Epstein documents.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Trump had sued for US$10 billion after the newspaper’s story was published in July 2025, detailing the president’s alleged 2003 letter to Epstein, which apparently featured a drawing of a naked woman.
WASHINGTON: A US judge on Saturday (Oct 31) dismissed President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and media magnate Rupert Murdoch over a report that Trump sent a bawdy birthday letter to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump had sued for US$10 billion after the newspaper’s story was published in July 2025, detailing the president’s alleged 2003 letter to Epstein, which apparently featured a drawing of a naked woman.
Murdoch is the founder of News Corp which owns the Wall Street Journal.
The report piled scrutiny on Trump from both Democrats and his own Republican party, who rejected the president’s attempts to downplay the saga as a hoax and called for a full release of legal files on Epstein.
In the ruling on Oct 31, Judge Darrin Gayles dismissed Trump’s lawsuit with prejudice, meaning Trump cannot file an amended version of the suit, as he…
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