Judge Dismisses Trump's $10 Billion Wall Street Journal Lawsuit With Prejudice

A federal judge on Saturday dismissed President Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal with prejudice, ending his second attempt to sue the newspaper over its reporting on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, Reuters reported on Oct. 31. U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles wrote in a 20-page order, "As with his first attempt, he has failed." A dismissal with prejudice means the case cannot be filed again in that court, although an appeal remains possible.

The lawsuit, filed in July 2025, followed a Journal story by reporters Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo reporting that a bawdy birthday letter bearing Trump's name was part of a 2003 album Ghislaine Maxwell compiled for Epstein's 50th birthday. Trump sued the two reporters, Dow Jones, News Corp, Rupert Murdoch and News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson, seeking $10 billion.

Under New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, a public figure suing for defamation must show actual malice — that the publisher knew the story was false or recklessly disregarded whether it was true. Gayles first dismissed the case in April and allowed an amended complaint, which was filed May 27. In Saturday's order, according to Reuters and the Associated Press, the judge highlighted the paper's detailed investigation and its efforts to seek comment before publishing, and described the amended complaint's attempt to manufacture flaws in that investigation as grasping at straws.