![Trump's Epstein Problem [Teaser]](https://i0.wp.com/drwebdomain.blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/0ai387nc-epstein-trump-625x300-24-july-25-qdWwcL.jpg?fit=1400%2C1400&ssl=1 "Trump's Epstein Problem [Teaser]")
By Dave Collins, Associated Press
Judge dismisses Trump suit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein birthday letter
Updated on Nov 1, 2026 9:37 AM EST — Published on Oct 31, 2026 5:32 PM EST
Saying the president was “grasping at straws,” a federal judge on Saturday threw out Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch over a story reporting on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami dismissed the suit with prejudice, ruling that the president did not prove the defendants made defamatory statements with actual malice as required by law. The ruling said the lawsuit had attempted to “manufacture” flaws in the Journal’s investigative reporting.
When a case is thrown out “with prejudice,” it cannot be refiled again and the dismissal is permanent and incontrovertible.
The dismissal is a blow to Trump and his administration, which have both pursued adversarial relationships with news organizations during his second term. In addition to the Journal, he is embroiled in lawsuits involving the BBC, The Associated Press and — most recently — CNN, MS NOW and Politico, which are suing him for restored access after he banished them from the White House in mid-September.
Trump has denounced media outlets that write things to which he objects and frequently calls them “fake news” and insults their journalists.
The White House did not immediately react publicly to Saturday’s dismissal or respond to an AP request for comment.
Trump called the reporting ‘malicious’
The lawsuit against the Journal was over a story it published last year describing a sexually suggestive letter and drawing that the paper said bore Trump’s name and was included in a 2003 album compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday.
The letter was reportedly collected by disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell as part of a birthday album for Epstein years before he was first arrested in 2006 and subsequently had a falling-out with Trump.
The letter bearing Trump’s name includes text framed by the outline of what appears to be a hand-drawn naked woman and ends with, “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,” according to the newspaper.
Read more: Judge dismisses Trump suit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein birthday letter – PBS NewsContinue/Read Original Article: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/judge-dismisses-trump-suit-against-wall-street-journal-over-epstein-birthday-letter
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