In a federal courtroom in Miami, a judge has closed the door, for now, on a lawsuit that the President of the United States brought against one of the country's oldest newspapers over a story about a birthday book once compiled for Jeffrey Epstein. The ruling turns on a quiet but demanding question that has long shaped American press law: whether a public figure can prove that a publication knew, or deliberately disregarded, that its reporting was false. The judge found he could not, and dismissed the case in a form that bars it from being refiled. The matter now moves toward appellate courts,
Judge Dismisses Trump's Defamation Suit Against Wall Street Journal Over Epstein Birthday Letter, With Prejudice
Grasping at straws to manufacture flaws in the reporting
Mark
A judge in Miami threw this out for good. What exactly did he decide?
Mimi
Judge Darrin Gayles dismissed it with prejudice, so it can't be refiled. His reasoning was that Trump didn't prove actual malice, the bar a public figure has to clear.
Mark
And what is actual malice, in plain terms?
Mimi
That the paper knew the statements were false or recklessly disregarded whether they were true. The judge said the suit was grasping at straws to manufacture flaws in the reporting.
Luke
Worth noting that's the judge's characterization. It's a legal ruling on whether the claim was sufficiently pleaded, not a separate finding about every detail of the underlying letter.
Mark
This had happened before, right?
Mimi
Yes. In April Gayles dismissed it, saying Trump came nowhere close on actual malice. The legal team refiled, and now it's been dismissed again, permanently.
Luke
Which makes the appeal question interesting. The only word we have that one is coming is an unnamed source familiar with the strategy, plus a spokesperson saying they'll press forward. No filing has been reported.
Mark
What about the birthday book itself?
Mimi
House lawmakers subpoenaed a redacted version from Epstein's estate. Then-press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump did not draw the picture or sign it.
Luke
That's a statement from his side. The ruling, as reported, turned on actual malice, not on resolving who made the letter.
O Pulso
- A federal judge in Miami has dismissed the President's defamation suit against The Wall Street Journal with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled.
- The judge wrote that the lawsuit was 'grasping at straws' to 'manufacture' flaws in the paper's reporting on a 2003 Epstein birthday album letter.
- This is the second time the court has found the president failed to prove actual malice, after an April dismissal that was followed by a refiled complaint.
- The president's legal team says it will press forward, and a source says an appeal is likely, pushing the fight toward higher courts.
- The birthday book's contents and provenance remain the charged center of the dispute, with House subpoenas and public statements keeping it in view.
In a federal courtroom in Miami, a judge has closed the door, for now, on a lawsuit that the President of the United States brought against one of the country's oldest newspapers over a story about a birthday book once compiled for Jeffrey Epstein. The ruling turns on a quiet but demanding question that has long shaped American press law: whether a public figure can prove that a publication knew, or deliberately disregarded, that its reporting was false. The judge found he could not, and dismissed the case in a form that bars it from being refiled. The matter now moves toward appellate courts, where a dispute over a single letter may test how much room investigative journalism is given when power feels wronged.
On Saturday, U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles issued a 20-page ruling in Miami that ended President Trump's multimillion-dollar defamation suit against The Wall Street Journal. He dismissed the case with prejudice, so it cannot be filed again.
The lawsuit stemmed from a Journal story published last year. It described a sexually suggestive letter that bore Mr. Trump's name and was reportedly part of an album compiled in 2003 for Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday. The president called the story fake and sued the paper, its parent company News Corp, its CEO, the reporters, and Rupert Murdoch.
Gayles found that Mr. Trump had not proven actual malice, the high standard public figures must meet, requiring proof that a publication knew a statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. He said the suit was "grasping at straws" and trying to manufacture flaws in the paper's investigative work.
This was not the first such ruling. In April, Gayles had already dismissed the case, saying Mr. Trump came "nowhere close" to meeting the standard. The president's lawyers refiled, and Saturday's decision followed.
The birthday book has become part of the public record, with a redacted copy obtained by House lawmakers from Epstein's estate at the heart of the case. Former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said the president did not draw or sign the picture.
The president's team says it will keep pressing forward and holds those who mislead the public accountable. A source familiar with the strategy says an appeal is likely, so the next question is whether the appeals court will see the actual malice showing differently than the district court has twice.
On Saturday, in a 20-page ruling out of Miami, U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles ended President Trump's multimillion-dollar defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal. He dismissed it with prejudice, which means it cannot be filed again.
The suit grew out of a story the Journal published last year. The paper described a sexually suggestive letter that, it reported, bore Mr. Trump's name and was part of an album compiled in 2003 for Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday. The president called the story "FAKE" and sued. The defendants named in the suit were the paper, its parent company News Corp, the company's CEO, the reporters who wrote the story, and Rupert Murdoch, News Corp's chairman emeritus.
Gayles's central finding was that Mr. Trump did not prove actual malice. That is the standard a public figure must meet in a defamation case: showing that the statements were published either with knowledge they were false or with disregard for whether they were true. The judge wrote that the lawsuit was "grasping at straws" and was trying to "manufacture" flaws in the Journal's investigative reporting.
This was not the first time the court had reached that conclusion. In April, Gayles had already thrown out the case, saying the president's legal team had failed to clear the legal bar needed to establish its claim. At that point he ruled that Mr. Trump came "nowhere close" to showing the paper acted with actual malice. Mr. Trump's lawyers then refiled the lawsuit, which led to Saturday's decision.
The birthday book itself became a matter of public record along the way. House lawmakers subpoenaed a redacted version of it from Epstein's estate, and that document sits at the center of the lawsuit. The source text also includes a statement from then-White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who said it was "very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it."
The president's side said it is not backing down. A spokesperson for Mr. Trump's legal team told CBS News that he "will continue to press forward in his powerhouse lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and all of the other defendants," and that he would keep holding accountable those who mislead the American people with what the statement called Fake News and smears. A source familiar with Mr. Trump's legal strategy said the decision will likely be appealed.
Because the dismissal is with prejudice, the route forward now runs through the appeals court rather than back to Gayles's courtroom. Whether an appeal is filed, and whether it can overcome a ruling that found the actual malice showing lacking twice, is the next thing to watch.
Citações Notáveis
President Trump will continue to press forward in his powerhouse lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and all of the other defendants.— Spokesperson for Trump's legal team, to CBS News
The lawsuit was grasping at straws as it tried to manufacture flaws in the WSJ's reporting.— Judge Darrin Gayles, in ruling
Quer a matéria completa?
Leia o original em CBS News ↗
Politics & Governance