Judge tosses Trump’s lawsuit against Wall Street Journal again, this time for good

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.

周六，一名联邦法官驳回了唐纳德·特朗普总统对《华尔街日报》提起的诽谤诉讼。该诉讼源于《华尔街日报》报道了一封署有特朗普名字的、写给杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的淫秽生日信。

美国地区法官达林·P·盖尔斯裁定，特朗普未能合理地指控鲁珀特·默多克旗下的报纸在发表该报道时存在“实际恶意”。

盖尔斯驳斥了总统的论点，即《华尔街日报》在他否认写信后应该扣留报道，称这样的要求违反了宪法第一修正案。

法官写道：“如果法律是这样规定的，那么每当公众人物或其团队否认指控时，记者就会立即被禁止发表负面或相反的新闻报道。”

盖尔斯法官此前在 4 月份驳回了这起 200 亿美元的诉讼，裁定特朗普最初的诉状依赖于“公式化”的恶意断言，而这些断言“远远达不到”公众人物的法律标准。

但法官驳回了此案，但允许特朗普在不损害其权利的前提下提交修改后的诉状，以弥补这些不足。

在周六的裁决中，盖尔斯法官认为特朗普修改后的诉状仍然未能解决这些问题，并驳回了此案，且不得再次提起诉讼。

白宫尚未回复 CNN 的置评请求。

2025年7月，特朗普起诉《华尔街日报》、其母公司默多克以及两名记者，起因是该报报道了一封带有性暗示的信件。特朗普否认自己写过这封信，并指责《华尔街日报》明知故犯地发布了虚假报道。

此案尤其不同寻常，因为特朗普是在担任总统期间提起诉讼的。接受CNN采访的法律分析人士表示，他们想不起还有哪位在任总统会因为一篇报道而起诉新闻媒体。

然而，这也是特朗普长期以来惯用的伎俩——利用法院向新闻机构施压，阻止对其不利的报道。

在第二个任期内，特朗普还就《纽约时报》对其2024年竞选活动的报道提起了一项150亿美元的诽谤诉讼。去年，法官驳回了最初的诉讼请求，但允许特朗普重新提起诉讼。今年7月，法官推迟了对《纽约时报》驳回动议的裁决，并指示特朗普再次修改其诉讼请求，特朗普于8月照办。

去年底，特朗普起诉英国广播公司（BBC），指控其在一部关于国会大厦袭击事件的纪录片中剪辑了他于2021年1月6日发表的演讲，索赔100亿美元。这家英国广播公司已誓言将在法庭上为特朗普辩护。

在就职前一个月，特朗普起诉了爱荷华州民调专家J·安·塞尔泽、她的民调公司、《得梅因纪事报》及其母公司，原因是该报在2024年大选前几天发布的一项民调显示，他在爱荷华州的支持率落后于民主党候选人卡马拉·哈里斯。9月份，法官驳回了该诉讼，且不得再次提起。

法律专家认为这些诉讼毫无根据，漏洞百出，但他们警告说，对特朗普来说，胜诉可能并不重要：旷日持久的诉讼所带来的曝光度和威胁可能会给新闻媒体施加压力，并抑制积极的报道。

CNN的布莱恩·斯特尔特和洛根·斯基西亚诺对本报道亦有贡献。