Second try, same result, except this time the judge locked the door behind him. A federal judge in Miami has ended President Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal over its Epstein birthday letter story, and Trump can’t refile.
Judge Darrin P. Gayles dismissed the Trump Wall Street Journal lawsuit with prejudice on Saturday, Oct. 31, according to CBS News.
Gayles found that Trump again failed to plausibly allege “actual malice,” the legal bar a public figure has to clear, CNN reports. That is the second dismissal in about six months.
What the Trump Epstein letter lawsuit was about
The Journal reported on July 17, 2025, that a letter bearing Trump’s signature appeared in a 2003 album for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday. Ghislaine Maxwell compiled the album. The paper described the letter as typewritten text framed by a hand-drawn outline of a naked woman, with the signature below her waist, Raw Story notes.
Trump denies writing the letter or drawing the picture. He sued the next day. The defendants were Dow Jones, News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, CEO Robert Thomson and two reporters, per CNBC.
One thing the ruling did not do, however, is settle who wrote the letter. The dismissals rest on the legal standard for public figures, not on a finding about authorship.
Why the judge tossed the Trump defamation case a second time
Gayles first threw out the suit in April, without prejudice. He called the malice claims “formulaic” and “nowhere close” to what the law requires, then let Trump try again.
The amended complaint argued the Journal was reckless because it never showed how reporters obtained and verified the letter. It also added a claim that Murdoch told Trump “I will handle it” in a phone call about the article. Still, neither moved the judge.
Trump’s team also argued the paper should have held the story once he denied writing the letter. Gayles shut that down. “Were that the law, any time a public figure or his team denies an accusation, journalists would be immediately blocked from publishing negative or contradictory press,” he wrote.
In his view, the malice allegations were “conclusory, vague, sometimes inconsistent with the Article,” as Variety quoted him.
Here’s the thing: what it means for you
This is bigger than one president and one newspaper. The ruling reinforces a simple rule: if you are a public figure, even the most powerful one, a denial doesn’t stop a news outlet from publishing. You have to show the outlet knew it was false or recklessly ignored the truth. Both sides of the political aisle benefit from that rule, depending on who is in the news that week.
It also tells you something about how hard these suits are to win. In fact, this is not Trump’s only media case. A federal judge earlier tossed his $15 billion suit against the New York Times for failing to concisely state why he should win, per CBC. Meanwhile, Trump is also working the campaign trail by phone, as he ditched two rallies for a 72-hour phone blitz before the midterms.
The price tag remains unsettled. CNBC, CBS and AP have said $10 billion. CNN and Variety say $20 billion. Until the docket settles it, treat the number as disputed (a $10 billion gap is a big rounding error).
What happens next in the Murdoch lawsuit
A Dow Jones spokesperson said, “We’re pleased with the court’s decision.” A Trump legal team spokesperson said the president “will continue to press forward in his powerhouse lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and all of the other defendants.”
That is not the same as announcing an appeal, and no notice of appeal has surfaced yet. If Trump does appeal, the case goes to the 11th Circuit. The Journal’s side may also ask for attorneys’ fees, though outlets are not aligned on whether a deadline applies. Politics keeps moving in the meantime, and the Texas Senate race between Paxton and Talarico is one of the contests drawing attention in the final days.
So the lawsuit is dead in Miami. Will it get a second life in an appeals court?
