Judge drops Trump’s $10B lawsuit against Wall Street Journal

U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles on Monday dismissed President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and its owners, including media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Gayles wrote that the president’s team failed to prove that the paper knowingly made false statements about him. The judge also denied the defendants’ request that Trump pay their attorney’s fees. Trump had sought $10 billion in damages.

Trump filed suit against the Wall Street Journal in July 2025, after it published an article containing the claims that he wrote a birthday message with an accompanying crude drawing for deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump has denied those claims. The House Oversight Committee later released scans of the book and the message.

What’s the future of the lawsuit? While the judge dismissed the case, he did so without prejudice. That decision allows Trump to file a new, amended lawsuit before April 27. The president on Monday said he would do so. The judge’s decision also left open the possibility for the defendants to make a new request for a ruling requiring Trump to pay their attorney fees.

Dig deeper: Read Leo Briceno’s explanation of the Epstein files associated with the lawsuit.