A federal judge on Saturday dismissed President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal over its reporting on a lewd birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein bearing Trump’s name.
US District Judge Darrin P. Gayles ruled that Trump failed to plausibly allege that the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper acted with “actual malice” when it published the story.
Gayles rejected the president’s argument that The Journal should have withheld its story after he denied writing the letter, saying such a requirement would violate the First Amendment.
“Were that the law, any time a public figure or his team denies an accusation, journalists would be immediately blocked from publishing negative or contradictory press,” the judge wrote.
Gayles previously dismissed the $20 billion lawsuit in April , ruling that Trump’s original complaint relied on “formulaic” assertions of malice that came “nowhere close” to the legal standard for a public figure.
But the judge dismissed the case without prejudice and gave Trump an opportunity to file an amended complaint addressing those shortcomings.
In Saturday’s ruling, Gayles found that Trump’s revised complaint still failed to resolve those issues and dismissed the case with prejudice.
The White House did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Trump sued The Journal, its parent companies, Murdoch and two reporters in July 2025 after the newspaper reported on the sexually suggestive letter. Trump denied writing it and accused The Journal of knowingly publishing a false story.
The case was especially unusual because Trump brought it while serving as president. Legal analysts who spoke with CNN said they could not recall another instance of a sitting president suing a news outlet over a story.
However, it was also part of a recognizable, long-running pattern for Trump — using the courts to pressure news organizations over unflattering coverage of him.
During his second term, Trump has also filed a $15 billion defamation case against The New York Times over its coverage of his 2024 campaign. A judge dismissed the original complaint last year but allowed Trump to refile. In July, the judge deferred a decision on the Times’ motion to dismiss and directed Trump to revise his complaint again, which he did in August.
Late last year, Trump sued the BBC for $10 billion over its editing of his January 6, 2021, speech in a documentary about the Capitol attack. The British broadcaster has vowed to defend the case in court.
One month before taking office, Trump sued Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer, her polling company, The Des Moines Register and its parent company, over a poll released days before the 2024 election showing him trailing Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in Iowa. A judge dismissed that lawsuit with prejudice in September.
Legal experts have deemed these lawsuits frivolous and full of holes but warn that winning may be besides the point for Trump: The publicity and threat of protracted litigation can pressure news outlets and chill aggressive reporting.
CNN’s Brian Stelter and Logan Schiciano contributed to this report.
