US judge dismisses Trump lawsuit versus WSJ

WASHINGTON — A US judge on Saturday dismissed President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and media magnate Rupert Murdoch over a report that Trump sent a bawdy birthday letter to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump had sued for $10 billion after the newspaper’s story was published in July 2025 detailing the president’s alleged 2003 letter to Epstein, which apparently featured a drawing of a naked woman. Murdoch is the founder of News Corp., which owns the Wall Street Journal. The report piled scrutiny on Trump from both Democrats and his own Republican party, who rejected the president’s attempts to downplay the saga as a hoax and called for a full release of legal files on Epstein. In Saturday’s ruling, Judge Darrin Gayles dismissed Trump’s lawsuit with prejudice, meaning Trump cannot file an amended version of the suit, as he did when Gayles turned down an initial version of it back in April. The judge wrote that in bringing his defamation claim, Trump had both times failed to establish that the defendants “acted with actual malice.” The House Oversight Committee last year published a copy of Trump’s alleged birthday note to Epstein, which consists of a short dialogue between “Donald” and “Jeffrey.” Epstein files Trump’s supporters have been obsessed with the Epstein case for years and held as an article of faith that “deep state” elites were protecting a sex ring of Epstein associates, particularly in the Democratic Party and Hollywood. The president fought for months to prevent the Department of Justice from releasing the so-called “Epstein Files” but eventually signed a law passed by Congress requiring their publication. Trump’s name appears repeatedly in the documents, but he denies any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any criminal offenses connected to the affair. Ahead of the Nov. 3 US midterm elections, which will decide control of Congress, Democrats have reportedly spent more than $35 million on Epstein-related advertisements. With a Republican majority in the House and Senate, Trump has so far enjoyed relatively little political opposition since taking office in January 2025, giving the courts a key role in limiting him. In a separate case, Saturday, a new suit was filed to prevent Trump’s attempt to erect a huge triumphal arch in front of the iconic military cemetery outside Washington. That is one of a number of projects launched by Trump in a bid to put his personal stamp on the capital, including a ballroom at the White House and a laborious renovation of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall.