Florida Judge Dismisses Trump's Lawsuit Against Wall Street Journal

President Donald Trump faces a second legal defeat in his defamation suit against The Wall Street Journal. A federal court in Florida rejected the complaint on Saturday, marking the end of the latest attempt to challenge a 2023 article.

Judge Darrin Gayles issued the ruling, stating that the plaintiff failed to plausibly allege that the defendants made defamatory statements. Consequently, the judge ordered the complaint dismissed. This follows an April decision where the same court rejected the initial version of the filing and granted the defense the opportunity to review a modified text.

The dispute centers on a newspaper report detailing a message Trump allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein for the financier's 50th birthday in 2003. The Journal published a document featuring a sketch of a nude woman's silhouette and the sender's name at the bottom. The note included the text: "Happy birthday. May every day be another wonderful secret."

The Wall Street Journal's legal team requested the case be thrown out, arguing the article included proper research and Trump's explicit denial of authorship. Attorneys for the newspaper told the court that there is nothing intrinsically defamatory about sending an obscene letter to a friend. Judge Gayles agreed, noting that the president's defamation claims lacked merit.

A spokesperson for Trump's legal team confirmed the president intends to appeal the decision. The representative said Trump will continue to hold those who deceive the American people with false news and defamation accountable. The judge's written opinion emphasized that the court aligns with the view that the accusations are unsupported by the evidence.

This ruling concludes the current phase of litigation in the federal district court. The case began with Trump filing his initial complaint in 2025. The next step in the legal process will be the filing of an appeal with a higher court, as planned by the plaintiff's team.