A federal judge in Miami has dismissed President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal over its reporting on a birthday letter linked to Jeffrey Epstein — and this time, the dismissal is with prejudice.
US District Judge Darrin P. Gayles issued the ruling on Saturday, October 31, 2026. It is the second time he has dismissed the case, but the new ruling carries a decisive difference: because it is with prejudice, the same case cannot be refiled. An appeal remains possible, and a spokesman for Trump’s legal team said he will appeal.
Why the judge dismissed the case
The judge found that the amended complaint still did not plausibly allege actual malice — the demanding legal standard that a public figure must meet in a defamation case. In his assessment, the allegations were conclusory, vague, sometimes inconsistent with the article, and often irrelevant. He described the arguments as grasping at straws and cited the landmark 1964 Supreme Court decision in New York Times v. Sullivan.
Judge Gayles also rejected the argument that Trump’s denial of the letter should, by itself, have prevented publication. The ruling rests on First Amendment grounds: a denial does not automatically make reporting unlawful or block a news organization from publishing.
What ‘with prejudice’ means
A dismissal with prejudice closes the same case in the same court. Trump cannot simply file the identical claim again before Judge Gayles. That is different from the earlier outcome in April, when the first complaint was dismissed without prejudice and Trump was allowed to file an amended complaint in May.
The October 31 ruling therefore ends this version of the litigation at district-court level, subject to any appeal. No appeal filing date or outcome is known yet, and this article does not speculate about either.
The background to the dispute
The case traces back to a Wall Street Journal article published on July 17, 2025, about a 2003 album prepared for Epstein’s 50th birthday. The Journal reported that the album included a letter signed ‘Donald.’ Trump denied writing the letter and called it fake.
Trump sued in July 2025, naming Dow Jones, News Corp, News Corp executive chairman Rupert Murdoch, Dow Jones chief executive Robert Thomson and two reporters as defendants.
The damages figure, explained
On the amount at stake, the WSJ reports two defamation claims, each seeking at least $10 billion; several other outlets shorthand the suit as $10 billion. The distinction matters: the reporting does not present a single unqualified $10 billion total, and this article follows the WSJ’s two-claim description.
Reaction and what happens next
The White House did not immediately react publicly to the dismissal, and an Associated Press request for comment was unanswered at the time of reporting. Trump’s legal-team spokesman said he will appeal, but the timing and result of any appeal are not yet known.
For now, the ruling is a significant defeat for the lawsuit in the district court — and a reminder of how high the actual-malice bar remains for public figures bringing defamation claims over news reporting.
Sources
- The Wall Street Journal — Judge Dismisses Trump’s Lawsuit Against Wall Street Journal
- CNN — Judge tosses Trump’s lawsuit against Wall Street Journal
- The Times of India / AP — Epstein letter row: Judge rejects Trump’s defamation suit against WSJ
