ASN NEWS USA — NEWS FLASH

MIAMI (ASN NEWS USA)— A federal judge has dismissed President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the publisher of The Wall Street Journal — and this time, the case cannot be refiled.

U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles, based in Miami, dismissed the suit with prejudice on Saturday, finding that Trump had not established a viable claim that he was defamed by the Journal’s 2025 report about a birthday letter sent to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The Judge’s Words

Judge Gayles wrote that Trump’s allegations “are conclusory, vague, sometimes inconsistent with the article, and often irrelevant” to his argument that the Journal published the report with actual malice — the legal standard a public figure must meet to prove defamation.

“The Court agrees that President Trump’s defamation claims lack merit,” Gayles wrote.

This was the second dismissal. Gayles had dismissed an earlier version of the lawsuit in April but allowed Trump to refile. This time, the door is closed: a dismissal with prejudice means the president cannot bring the same claims again.

What the Case Was About

The Journal reported last year that a book given to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003 included a letter with typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, signed “Donald.” Trump sued Journal publisher Dow Jones, its parent company News Corp, News Corp CEO Robert Thomson and Chairman Emeritus Rupert Murdoch, and two Journal reporters, seeking at least $10 billion in damages on each of two defamation claims.

The ruling is a major moment for press freedom — and a reminder that even the most powerful office in the country still has to meet the law’s high bar when it comes to suing the press. The First Amendment held its ground.

Stay tuned to ASN News USA for continuing coverage of this case and its fallout.

Reported by ASN News USA. Visit asnnewsusa.com or follow @ASNNewsUSA for updates.

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