Judge dismisses Trump suit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein birthday letter for now

A federal judge in Miami handed President Trump a defeat in his defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal over a story about a birthday book for Jeffrey Epstein, saying the president’s legal team failed to clear the legal bar needed to bring the case.

In a 17-page ruling, Judge Darrin Gayles of the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Florida ruled that the president came “nowhere close” to showing the paper acted with “actual malice” towards him, the standard for bringing a defamation suit as a public figure.

Actual malice requires that plaintiffs prove that statements made about a public figure were published with the knowledge that they were knowingly false, or with disregard over whether they are true or not.

“Because President Trump has not plausibly alleged that Defendants published the Article with actual malice, both Counts must be dismissed,” Gayles wrote.

However, the judge said Mr. Trump can refile the case by April 27 to amend the complaint and allege the paper acted with actual malice.

Gayles added that Mr. Trump’s “conclusory allegation” in the complaint — that the Journal “had contradictory evidence and failed to investigate” — is “rebutted by the Article and is insufficient to establish actual malice.”

A spokesman for Mr. Trump’s legal team said the president “will follow Judge Gayles’s ruling and guidance to refile this powerhouse lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and all of the other Defendants.”

“The President will continue to hold accountable those who traffic in Fake News to mislead the American People,” the spokesman said.

CBS News has reached out to the White House for comment on the ruling.

The Journal reported in 2025 that a book prepared for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003 included a “bawdy” letter inside the outline of a nude woman with Mr. Trump’s signature underneath. The president dismissed the story as “FAKE” and sued the paper and several executives for a total of $20 billion.

House lawmakers later obtained a redacted version of the birthday book from Epstein’s estate, which included the letter at the center of Mr. Trump’s lawsuit. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at the time that “it’s very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it.”