Judge permanently dismisses Trump’s Journal defamation suit

A federal judge on October 31 permanently dismissed President Donald Trump’s amended defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdoch and other defendants, ruling that the complaint failed to adequately plead actual malice. The dismissal with prejudice means Trump cannot refile the case in the same court. U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles, sitting in Miami, said the amended complaint did not meet the legal standard required for a public figure’s defamation claim. Under the standard, a plaintiff must show that defendants knew a challenged statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for its truth. Gayles wrote that the complaint’s allegations of malice were conclusory and vague, and in some instances inconsistent with the article. The case centered on a 2025 Journal report about a sexually suggestive letter attributed to Trump in an album compiled for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003. The newspaper reported that the letter bore Trump’s name. Trump denied writing it and called the report false and defamatory. His lawsuit sought at least $10 billion, alleging that the newspaper and its reporters knowingly or recklessly published false statements...