A federal judge in Miami has permanently dismissed President Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal over its reporting on an alleged birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein, ruling that the president failed to establish actual malice.
US District Judge Darrin Gayles issued the decision on Saturday, finding that Trump's allegations did not meet the legal standard required for public figures pursuing defamation claims.
The lawsuit targeted the Journal, its parent company Dow Jones, and media executive Rupert Murdoch following a report published last year about a letter allegedly bearing Trump's name in a birthday album compiled for Epstein in 2003.
The album, reportedly assembled by Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein's 50th birthday, contained a letter featuring suggestive language and an illustration resembling a woman's body.
Trump has repeatedly denied writing or signing the letter, describing the newspaper's reporting as false and defamatory.
His lawsuit alleged that the defendants knowingly published inaccurate statements that caused substantial financial and reputational damage.
The Journal's reporting emerged amid bipartisan criticism of the Trump administration's handling of documents connected to Epstein.
Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Gayles previously dismissed the lawsuit in April but allowed Trump's legal team to submit an amended complaint in May.
The revised filing sought $10 billion after an earlier demand for $20 billion.
In his 20-page ruling, Gayles concluded that the amended complaint failed to demonstrate that the defendants knowingly published false information or recklessly disregarded its accuracy.
He also rejected the argument that Trump's denial should have prevented publication, citing First Amendment protections and the Supreme Court's 1964 New York Times Co. v. Sullivan decision.
The judge noted that the Journal had acknowledged Trump's denial in its reporting and criticized the lawsuit's attempts to undermine the newspaper's investigation.
The dismissal was issued with prejudice, preventing Trump from refiling the same case.
The White House had not immediately commented on the ruling.