Judge throws out Donald Trump's £7.4bn lawsuit against Wall Street Journal over Jeffrey Epstein letter

Donald Trump's $10billion (£7.4billion) defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal after the paper reported on alleged messages to Jeffrey Epstein, has been dismissed by a judge.

Judge Darrin Gayles, of the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, ruled the US President failed to prove "actual malice" by the paper and that the claim "lacks merit".

It is the second time the judge threw out the case since Mr Trump first sued the WSJ for defamation back in July 2025 in a move he branded as "historic legal action".

He said his decision to launch a lawsuit was both for himself and US citizens who would "no longer tolerate the abusive wrongdoings of the Fake News Media".

Judge Gayles dismissed the case earlier this year in April when he ruled the 47th President had failed to meet the same "actual malice" standard required to prove he was the subject of defamation.

However, at the time, he offered up the opportunity for the US President to hand over a revised complaint against the leading American publication.

The case has now been thrown out with prejudice, which means the President is not permitted to file the same claim again.

The judge described Mr Trump's allegations against the WSJ's publisher Dow Jones as "conclusory, vague (and) sometimes inconsistent".

A spokesman for the President's legal team said Mr Trump was planning to appeal the ruling through the US Court of Appeals.

He added Mr Trump "will continue to hold those who mislead the American People with Fake News and smears accountable for their actions".

If the court overturns the decision, the lawsuit could be relaunched.

The original concern centred on a letter he was alleged to have sent to the convicted child sex offender - and was published by the WSJ in July last year.

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The document, which included a drawing of a naked woman, was alleged to have included the message: "May every day be another wonderful secret."

The WSJ said the businessman-turned-President had sent the letter to join a collection gathered by Epstein's ex-girlfiend Ghislaine Maxwell as part of the paedophile's birthday present back in 2003.

The letter was said to have been signed off by "Donald" - but the Republican insisted the document was "fake" and vowed to "sue the a*s off" the WSJ chief.

Mr Trump denied penning the letter after the WSJ raised the issue publicly.

He previously said: "The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein,.

"These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don't draw pictures. I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn't print this Fake Story.

"But he did, and now I'm going to sue his a*s off, and that of his third rate newspaper."

The President proceeded to sue Dow Jones, its parent company News Corps as well as Chief Executive Robert Thomson and Chairman Rupert Murdoch. Mr Trump also sued two of the paper's reporters.