Trump loses legal battle over Epstein-linked Wall Street Journal case

Judge permanently drops Trump’s $10bn WSJ lawsuit, ruling the president failed to prove actual malice in the newspaper’s reporting.

US President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Wasilla, Alaska, on October 13 [Lindsey Wasson/AP Photo]

A federal judge has permanently dismissed United States President Donald Trump’s multibillion-dollar defamation lawsuit against media mogul Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal.

On Saturday, US District Judge Darrin Gayles concluded that the president had failed to establish the standard of “actual malice” required for defamation suits.

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Under US law, a successful complaint must show that the defendant released a defamatory statement knowing it was false or with “reckless disregard” for its accuracy.

Gayles, however, said that Trump was “grasping at straws” with his $10bn case against The Wall Street Journal.

“The Amended Complaint falls short of pleading actual malice,” Gayles wrote.

“Indeed, the allegations regarding malice are conclusory, vague, sometimes inconsistent with the Article and often irrelevant to whether Defendants knew or should have known that the statements in the Article were purportedly false.”

The judge went so far as to suggest that Trump’s legal team had attempted “to manufacture flaws with the investigation” published in The Wall Street Journal.

The case stemmed from coverage that linked Trump to the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

On July 17, 2025, The Wall Street Journal published an exclusive describing a sexually suggestive birthday note gifted to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003, as part of a book of congratulatory letters.

The letters were reportedly collected by disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell , who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for her involvement in Epstein’s sex-trafficking scheme.

The note attributed to Trump includes typed text framed by a hand-drawn outline of what appears to be a curvaceous woman. At the bottom, where her pelvic region might be, is Trump’s signature.

Trump vehemently denied responsibility for the text, the signature and the artwork. A copy of the birthday letter was later released through the House Oversight Committee.

The Wall Street Journal’s article came at a time when Trump’s second administration was facing intense scrutiny over whether it had withheld documents about Epstein’s alleged sex crimes, despite promises of transparency.

Critics had also raised questions about the nature of Trump and Epstein’s relationship. The two men appear to have socialised together, and Epstein was known to have surrounded himself with powerful figures from politics, academia and the business world.

In 2025, Trump said he ended his relationship with Epstein after the financier “stole” female employees from his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Epstein was convicted of soliciting a minor for sex in Florida in 2008, for which he served 13 months in jail. In 2019, he faced federal charges related to sex trafficking, but he was found dead in his New York City jail cell before he could be brought to trial. His death was later ruled a suicide.

Legal advocates say Epstein’s victims are estimated to number in the hundreds.

After the release of The Wall Street Journal report, Trump branded the newspaper’s coverage “false, malicious, and defamatory”.

His lawsuit, filed in the federal court in Miami on July 18, 2025, accused the paper and its reporters of having “knowingly and recklessly” published “numerous false, defamatory, and disparaging statements”.

The result, it alleged, was “overwhelming financial and reputational harm” to the president. Two journalists associated with The Wall Street Journal article were named among the defendants.

In April, Judge Gayles dismissed the defamation lawsuit, ruling that Trump had failed to prove the reporting was borne of “actual malice”.

But that initial ruling gave Trump the opportunity to refile his complaint, which he did in May.

The updated lawsuit claimed The Wall Street Journal had been reckless in not showing how reporters had received and verified the letter.

Saturday’s Miami ruling deals a final blow to Trump’s attempt to sue over the issue. Gayles’s decision dismisses the case “with prejudice”, which effectively blocks any future litigation on the matter.

Trump has other ongoing defamation cases against other media outlets, including the BBC and The New York Times.

法官永久驳回了特朗普对《华尔街日报》提起的100亿美元诉讼，裁定总统未能证明该报的报道存在实际恶意。

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普于10月13日在阿拉斯加州瓦西拉举行的竞选集会上发表讲话。[林赛·沃森/美联社照片]

一名联邦法官永久驳回了美国总统唐纳德·特朗普对传媒大亨鲁珀特·默多克和《华尔街日报》提起的数十亿美元诽谤诉讼。

周六，美国地区法官达林·盖尔斯裁定，总统未能证明诽谤诉讼所需的“实际恶意”标准。

邮件显示，特朗普曾在爱泼斯坦家中与受害者“相处数小时”（共3份邮件中的第1份）。

特朗普政府就报道问题向《纽约时报》记者发出传票，以下列出三项中的第二项

美国法官驳回特朗普就爱泼斯坦报道对《华尔街日报》提起的100亿美元诉讼（共3条，此为第3条）。

根据美国法律，成功的诉讼必须证明被告明知诽谤性言论不实或“罔顾”其准确性而发布该言论。

然而，盖尔斯表示，特朗普起诉《华尔街日报》索赔 100 亿美元是“病急乱投医”。

盖尔斯写道：“修改后的起诉状未能证明存在实际恶意。”

“事实上，关于恶意指控是结论性的、模糊的，有时与文章内容不符，而且往往与被告是否知道或应该知道文章中的陈述据称是虚假的无关。”

法官甚至暗示，特朗普的法律团队试图“捏造《华尔街日报》发表的调查中的缺陷”。

该案源于有关特朗普与已故声名狼藉的金融家兼性犯罪者杰弗里·爱泼斯坦联系起来的报道。

2025 年 7 月 17 日，《华尔街日报》独家报道了 2003 年爱泼斯坦 50 岁生日时收到的一张带有性暗示的生日贺卡，这张贺卡是一本祝贺信集中的一部分。

据报道，这些信件是由声名狼藉的英国社交名媛吉斯莱恩·麦克斯韦收集的，她因参与爱泼斯坦的性交易计划而被判处 20 年监禁。

据称是特朗普所写的纸条包含一些打印文字，文字周围环绕着一个手绘的、身材曲线优美的女性轮廓。在底部，也就是女性骨盆区域附近，有特朗普的签名。

特朗普强烈否认对信件的文字、签名和插图负责。这份生日信的副本后来由众议院监督委员会公布。

《华尔街日报》发表这篇文章时，正值特朗普第二届政府面临严密审查之际，外界质疑其是否在承诺保持透明的情况下，隐瞒了有关爱泼斯坦涉嫌性犯罪的文件。

批评人士也对特朗普和爱泼斯坦的关系性质提出了质疑。两人似乎有社交往来，而众所周知，爱泼斯坦身边围绕着政界、学术界和商界的权势人物。

2025年，特朗普表示，在金融家爱泼斯坦从他的海湖庄园“窃取”女员工后，他结束了与爱泼斯坦的关系。

2008年，爱泼斯坦因在佛罗里达州引诱未成年人进行性交易而被定罪，并因此服刑13个月。2019年，他面临与性交易相关的联邦指控，但在受审前，他被发现死于纽约市的监狱牢房中。他的死因后来被认定为自杀。

法律界人士表示，据估计，爱泼斯坦的受害者人数达数百人。

《华尔街日报》报道发布后，特朗普称该报的报道“虚假、恶意、诽谤”。

他在 2025 年 7 月 18 日向迈阿密联邦法院提起的诉讼中，指控该报及其记者“明知故犯、肆意妄为”地发表了“大量虚假、诽谤和贬损性言论”。

诉讼称，此举给总统造成了“巨大的经济和声誉损失”。两名与《华尔街日报》文章相关的记者也被列为被告。

今年四月，盖尔斯法官驳回了诽谤诉讼，裁定特朗普未能证明该报道是出于“实际恶意”。

但最初的裁决给了特朗普重新提起诉讼的机会，他在 5 月份重新提起了诉讼。

更新后的诉讼称，《华尔街日报》疏忽大意，没有公开记者是如何收到并核实这封信的。

周六迈阿密法院的裁决彻底粉碎了特朗普就此事提起诉讼的企图。盖尔斯法官的裁决“有偏见地”驳回了此案，实际上阻止了未来就此事提起任何诉讼。

特朗普还对其他媒体提起诽谤诉讼，包括英国广播公司（BBC）和《纽约时报》。