Judge tosses Trump's $10 billion suit against Journal

Donald Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal is over.

U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami dismissed the case with prejudice on Saturday. This means the suit cannot be refiled.

The ruling marks a permanent end to the legal dispute that began last year. Trump sued the paper and media mogul Rupert Murdoch over an article describing his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

The story detailed a sexually suggestive letter and drawing that appeared in a 2003 birthday album for Epstein. The album was compiled for his 50th birthday. Ghislaine Maxwell reportedly collected the letter. It included text framed by a hand-drawn outline of a naked woman. The letter ended with the phrase "Happy Birthday, and may every day be another wonderful secret."

Trump denied writing the letter. He called the reporting "false, malicious, and defamatory." His team argued that the Journal and its reporters published the story with actual malice. They claimed the article caused overwhelming financial and reputational harm to the president.

Judge Gayles previously dismissed the initial complaint in April. He gave Trump a chance to file an amended complaint in May. The new filing did not meet the legal standard set by the Supreme Court in 1964. That ruling requires public figures to prove a media outlet knowingly published false statements or showed reckless disregard for the truth.

The judge wrote that the amended complaint fell short of pleading actual malice. He described the allegations as conclusory and vague. The ruling noted that the Journal did not ignore Trump's denial. Instead, the article informed readers that the president decried the letter as a fake.

The White House did not immediately react publicly to the dismissal. Trump has pursued adversarial relationships with news organizations during his second term. He is currently involved in lawsuits with the BBC, The Associated Press, and other outlets. CNN, MSNBC, and Politico are suing him for restored access after he banished them from the White House in mid-September. Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.