By Fatma Younis
A U.S. judge has dismissed former President Donald Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, ruling the case was "grasping at straws" and violated First Amendment protections for press freedom.
Lawsuit Background
Trump sued the Journal's parent company Dow Jones and its chairman Rupert Murdoch last year over a 2023 article that published a letter allegedly written by Trump to financier Jeffrey Epstein for Epstein's 50th birthday book in 2003. The letter contained suggestive language and a hand-drawn outline of a woman's body. Trump denied writing or signing the letter.
Judge's Ruling
Judge Darrin Gayles threw out the case "with prejudice," meaning it cannot be refiled. He had previously dismissed a $20 billion version of the suit. In a 20-page ruling, Gayles praised the Journal's "thoughtful and detailed investigation" and said Trump's legal team failed to prove the defendants acted with "actual malice," the high legal standard required for defamation claims against public figures.
First Amendment Implications
The judge wrote that accepting Trump's argument would mean journalists could be blocked from publishing negative stories whenever a public figure denies an accusation, a result that "flies in the face of the 'American privilege to speak one's mind.'" The ruling reinforces the high bar for proving actual malice in defamation cases.
