Judge Dismisses Trump's $10 Billion Lawsuit Against The Wall Street Journal

A US federal judge has dismissed President Donald Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, and the case cannot be filed again. BBC News reported the ruling by Judge Darrin Gayles, who decided the case in Miami. The dismissal was reported on October 31, 2026.

The lawsuit was filed against Dow Jones and the media executive Rupert Murdoch, and it named News Corp, the parent company of the Journal, as a defendant. CBS News reported that the case centred on a Journal article about a letter that was allegedly written by Trump to the financier Jeffrey Epstein for a birthday book in 2003. Trump has denied writing or signing the letter.

According to the Journal's report, the letter bore Trump's name and contained typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, apparently hand-drawn with a heavy marker. The reported letter included the phrases "enigmas never age" and "A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday - and may every day be another wonderful secret." Trump has called the report "FAKE."

The current case was not Trump's first attempt. He initially sued over the same reporting seeking $20 billion in damages for defamation, meaning a false statement that harms a person's reputation. Gayles dismissed that suit, and Trump then refiled, this time seeking $10 billion.

In a 20-page ruling, Gayles found that the lawsuit ran counter to the First Amendment, the part of the US Constitution that protects freedom of the press. He also found that Trump's legal team had not proven the defendants made defamatory statements with actual malice, a legal term for publishing something known to be false or with reckless disregard for whether it was true. The judge described the Journal's investigation as thoughtful and detailed, and said the lawsuit was grasping at straws.

Because the dismissal was made with prejudice, Trump cannot bring the same claims to court again.