(The Hill) — A federal judge tossed President Donald Trump’s defamation suit against The Wall Street Journal on Monday over a story it published detailing a letter Trump allegedly sent to disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday.
Trump denies writing the letter and claims it was faked. But U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles ruled the president failed to allege “actual malice,” the high bar public figures must clear to pursue defamation claims.
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“The Complaint comes nowhere close to this standard. Quite the opposite,” Gayles wrote.
Gayles, who serves on the federal bench in Miami, was appointed by former President Barack Obama. Trump can now attempt to amend his lawsuit and try again.
Trump launched the suit last July after the Journal published a 2003 letter he allegedly sent to Epstein for the financier’s 50th birthday. It purportedly includes several lines of text “framed by the outline of a naked woman” and ends, “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
Trump says he told the Journal the letter was a fake before they ran the article, and they should have known the story was false. The Journal has stood by its reporting.
The judge’s ruling doesn’t address whether the president actually wrote it.
“Because the Court finds that the Complaint fails to adequately allege actual malice, it declines to address these issues at this juncture,” Gayles wrote. “Moreover, whether President Trump was the author of the Letter or Epstein’s friend are questions of fact that cannot be determined at this stage of the litigation.”
The judge also said that even if Trump had alleged actual malice, his claims for special damages claims would still fail.
“President Trump will follow Judge Gayles’s ruling and guidance to refile this powerhouse lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and all of the other Defendants,” a spokesman for Trump’s legal team said in a statement. “The President will continue to hold accountable those who traffic in Fake News to mislead the American People.”
The Hill has reached out to spokespeople for The Wall Street Journal for comment.
The suit names as defendants The Wall Street Journal, the two reporters who bylined the story, News Corp, News Corp’s CEO, Dow Jones and Rupert Murdoch, who controls the company.
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The president has expressed frustration with the constant conversation on Epstein and his ties to the disgraced financier, and the suit follows Trump’s long history of suing media outlets. Trump has denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein and has said the two had a falling out years ago.
Last week, first lady Melania Trump gave a statement at the White House denying ties to Epstein. She, too, claimed she was being defamed.
“The individuals lying about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility and respect,” she said from the White House’s Grand Foyer. “I do not object to their ignorance, but rather I reject their mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation.”
