Judge dismisses Trump lawsuit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein birthday letter

A US judge has dismissed with prejudice Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal regarding a report about a birthday letter Trump allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein. The court’s decision marks a permanent end to the legal challenge after a previous attempt to amend the complaint failed. The lawsuit originated from a 2025 article claiming Trump wrote a crude note to the disgraced financier, a claim the former president vehemently denied as a fabrication. Judge Darrin P. Gayles ruled that Trump failed to provide evidence of actual malice, which is a required legal threshold for public figures in defamation cases. Throughout the proceedings, the court noted that the newspaper adhered to proper reporting standards by seeking comment and including Trump’s denials. The case drew significant interest because it named Rupert Murdoch, whose company owns the Wall Street Journal, as a defendant. Trump had reportedly contacted Murdoch directly in an unsuccessful effort to prevent the story’s publication. Despite the dismissal, a spokesperson for Trump indicated an intent to continue challenging the media outlet, while a spokesperson for Dow Jones expressed satisfaction with the outcome. The ruling concludes that the complaint was insufficient even after multiple attempts to establish a valid claim.