President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation suit against the Wall Street Journal and publisher Rupert Murdoch has been dismissed with prejudice, putting an end to the year-long legal battle.
Judge Darrin P. Gayles granted the paper’s motion to dismiss Trump’s first amended complaint on Saturday for failing to prove that any potentially defamatory comments were made with actual malice.
The president had initially sued the WSJ, Murdoch and parent company Dow Jones & Co. for libel in July 2025 after the paper published his alleged 50th birthday messages to Jeffrey Epstein from 2003. He then amended his complaint in April 2026 after a judge dismissed that suit for being “nowhere close” to defamation, with the Journal filing its corresponding motion in June.
The U.S. District Judge out of Miami noted in this weekend’s ruling that Trump’s team was “grasping at straws” while trying to “manufacture” flaws in the initial WSJ report.
“President Trump will continue to press forward in his powerhouse lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and all of the other defendants,” a spokesman for Trump’s legal team told the New York Times on Saturday. “The president will continue to hold those who mislead the American People with Fake News and smears accountable for their actions.”
In September 2025, the Journal published his alleged birthday note in full, complete with what appears to be his signature. The message also featured the quotes “We have certain things in common” and “May every day be a new wonderful secret” within the crude drawing of a naked woman.
“President Trump has filed a powerhouse lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and all of the other Defendants,” a spokesperson for Trump said back in June. “The President will continue to hold those who mislead the American People with Fake News and smears accountable for their actions.”
“I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his ‘pile of garbage’ newspaper, the WSJ,” Trump wrote on Truth Social when the story first broke last year. “That will be an interesting experience!!!” He also previously denied writing the birthday note in the original WSJ story, telling the outlet: “I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women.” He added, “It’s not my language. It’s not my words.”
The ‘With Prejudice’ ruling means Trump cannot refile his lawsuit. Documents related to pertaining attorney’s fees must now be filed within 30 days of Saturday.
