A federal judge in Miami dismisses on Saturday, in a biased manner, the revised defamation lawsuit filed by U.S. President Donald Trump against media mogul Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper had previously reported that Trump sent a "vulgar" birthday letter to the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on his 50th birthday.
It has been approximately six months since Judge Darlin Gales first dismissed the $10 billion lawsuit against Murdoch and his newspapers.
As the court dismissed the case in a biased manner, Trump cannot submit a revised complaint to the local court again. However, a spokesperson for Trump's legal team told CNBC on Saturday that the president plans to appeal against this ruling.
In the statement, the spokesperson said: "President Trump will continue to pursue his strong litigation against The Wall Street Journal and all other defendants. The President will continue to hold those who mislead the American people with fake news and slander accountable for their actions."
Spokespersons or legal representatives for The Wall Street Journal and Murdoch did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Judge Gales pointed out in her second rejection of the lawsuit that Trump, who has consistently denied writing this letter to his friend Epstein in 2003, did not “reasonably allege that the defendant had actual malice when publishing that article.”
Gales' ruling on Saturday stated: 'Just as with his first attempt, he failed. The complaint was pieced together in a haphazard manner, attempting to fabricate flaws in the investigation.'
According to legal precedents, public figures such as Trump who act as plaintiffs must prove that the defendant had actual malice when making the alleged defamatory statements.
This revised complaint includes new details and claims, including one piece of information previously reported by Newsweek: Murdoch told Trump during a phone call regarding a letter describing an email sent for Epstein's birthday that "I'll handle it." It is alleged that Trump's signature was on that letter.
Gales dismissed every argument put forward by Trump in the revised complaint, including that The Wall Street Journal did not conduct a thorough investigation of this letter, omitted relevant details, and still published it after the president and his representatives denied its authenticity.
Gales stated that this final argument would actually lead to public figures preventing unfavorable reports, which "runs counter to the First Amendment's protection of free speech and press freedom."
The ruling on Saturday represents the latest setback in the litigation between Trump and the media. On October 22, another federal judge ordered that Trump must testify by December 11 regarding a $10 billion defamation lawsuit he filed against British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
The Wall Street Journal reported on July 17, 2025, that a letter signed by Trump was included in a collection of letters prepared by Epstein for his 50th birthday. The article stated that the letter was sent at the request of Epstein's close friend Ghislain Maxwell, who was convicted more than twenty years later for enticing underage girls to engage in sexual encounters with Epstein.
The Wall Street Journal pointed out that this letter “contains a few lines of typed text, with the outline of a naked woman framed around it, which appears to have been hand-drawn with a thick marker pen.”
Reporters Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo wrote: "A pair of small arcs represent the breasts of this woman, while the future president's signature is a curving 'Donald' below her waist, imitating pubic hair."
"At the end of this letter, it reads: 'Happy Birthday – may every day become another wonderful secret.'" they wrote.
At that time, Trump angrily denied having written this letter, saying, "This is not mine. It is a forgery."
"I have never drawn a single painting in my life. I do not draw images of women," the president said at that time.
