Judge throws out Trump's $10 billion WSJ defamation case, bars refiling

In brief

• A federal judge in Florida dismissed Trump's amended $10 billion defamation suit against The Wall Street Journal.
• The judge found Trump had not plausibly alleged actual malice by the defendants.
• The dismissal is with prejudice, so Trump cannot refile the claims.
• The suit concerned a report on a birthday card allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.

Judge rules the suit cannot be refiled

U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles dismissed the amended complaint on Saturday, October 31. He found that Trump had not plausibly alleged that the defendants published defamatory statements with actual malice, the high legal standard for public figures (Judge dismisses Trump’s $10 billion defamation suit over Jeffrey Epstein birthday card story – NBCNews.com) (Soud zamítl Trumpovu žalobu, v níž požadoval od WSJ 216 miliard – Novinky.cz). The judge said the amended filing had the same flaw as the original. Because it was Trump's second attempt, dismissal with prejudice was appropriate (US judge dismisses Trump’s lawsuit against Wall Street Journal with prejudice – Investing.com).

What the lawsuit alleged

Trump sued the newspaper, its parent company News Corp, media owner Rupert Murdoch and two Journal reporters (Donald Trump und die Jeffrey-Epstein-Files: Gericht stoppt Klage gegen Zeitung – DER SPIEGEL). He sought at least $10 billion in damages (Trump defamation suit against Murdoch, WSJ over Epstein letter dismissed with prejudice – CNBC).

The case grew out of a Journal article published last year. It described a book put together in 2003 for Epstein's 50th birthday, which seemed to include a card attributed to Trump, who had been friendly with Epstein at the time. The letter was reportedly sexually suggestive, and a photo of it was posted on September 8, 2025, by the X account of House Oversight Committee Democrats (La justice rejette la plainte en diffamation de Donald Trump contre le « Wall Street Journal » au sujet d’une lettre à Jeffrey Epstein – Le Monde). Trump has denied writing the card.

What happens next

The dismissal with prejudice means Trump cannot revise the complaint and file the same claims again.