A United States judge has dismissed President Donald Trump’s $10bn defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and its owner, Rupert Murdoch, over a report linking him to a sexually suggestive birthday letter allegedly sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Judge Darrin Gayles, in a ruling on Saturday, dismissed the case with prejudice, preventing Trump from filing an amended version of the lawsuit.
The judge said Trump had failed to establish that the newspaper and Murdoch acted with “actual malice”, a key requirement in his defamation claim.
Trump filed the suit after the Wall Street Journal published a report in July 2025 alleging that he sent Epstein a birthday letter in 2003 featuring a drawing of a naked woman.
The letter, later published by the House Oversight Committee, contained a short exchange between the two men and ended with the words: “A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
Trump's signature reportedly appeared beneath the message, alongside an outline of a naked woman.
The president has denied wrongdoing and dismissed the report as a hoax. He had previously filed an amended version of the lawsuit after Gayles rejected his initial claim in April.
The report intensified scrutiny of Trump's past association with Epstein, prompting calls from members of both the Democratic and Republican parties for the release of files relating to the late financier.
Trump resisted the release of the documents for months before signing legislation passed by Congress requiring their publication.
His name appears repeatedly in the released records, but he has not been charged with any criminal offence connected to Epstein's activities.
Epstein, a convicted sex offender, died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.
The ruling comes amid growing political attention on the Epstein files ahead of the November 3 US midterm elections. Democrats have reportedly spent more than $35m on advertisements linked to the case.
Trump's association with Epstein has remained a source of controversy, particularly among supporters who have demanded accountability for powerful figures connected to the disgraced financier.
Discussion0