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By Jennifer Radcliffe
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A federal judge dismissed President Donald Trump's defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, delivering the latest setback in his broader legal campaign against major U.S. news organizations.
In an order issued Saturday, U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles dismissed Trump's suit against the newspaper, its parent companies and two reporters with prejudice, meaning the claims cannot be refiled in their current form.
The lawsuit stemmed from a July 2025 Journal article reporting on a purported birthday letter sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump denied authoring the letter and sued the newspaper, alleging defamation.
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Gayles ruled that Trump failed, for a second time, to plausibly allege that the defendants acted with "actual malice," the constitutional standard public figures must meet to prevail in defamation cases. The judge repeatedly cited the landmark Supreme Court decision New York Times v. Sullivan, which established heightened protections for press coverage of public officials.
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"The costs and efforts required to defend a lawsuit ... could chill free speech nearly as effectively as the absence of the actual malice standard altogether," Gayles wrote while explaining why public figures must plausibly allege actual malice at the outset of litigation.
The court also rejected Trump's argument that the Journal acted recklessly by publishing the article after he denied its central claim.
"In effect, President Trump argues that once he declared the Letter a 'fake,' Defendants should have disregarded everything else they learned in their investigation and not published the story," Gayles wrote. "But that is not what the actual malice standard requires."
The ruling marks one of the most significant court defeats yet for Trump's recent efforts to use defamation litigation against major media outlets.
Pending: Trump's $10B Lawsuit Against BBC
Trump is suing the BBC in a federal court in Miami regarding a Panorama documentary that spliced together portions of Trump’s January 6, 2021, speech. The suit seeks $5 billion in damages for each of the two counts listed—one count of defamation and one count of violating a Florida trade practices law.
While the BBC apologized for the edit, the outlet denies defamation.
"As we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case," a BBC spokesperson said in December 2025.
Trump has been ordered to sit for a deposition by December 11, and the judge warned Trump this week that the case could be dismissed if he does not produce more relevant documents or evidence showing his legal team's search for them.
Pending: CNN, MS NOW and Politico Lawsuit
Three media outlets filed a First Amendment lawsuit in September after Trump banned them from the White House and escorted reporters off the White Houst grounds.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico argued that the ban was retaliation for unfavorable coverage and violated the First Amendment and due-process protections.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who was appointed by Trump, granted a temporary restraining order on September 24 and ordered the White House to restore the outlets' credentials. He said they were likely to succeed on their claim that the administration revoked access without adequate standards or due process.
He converted the order to a preliminary injunction on October 14 to keep the outlets in the White House while the case proceeds. He found they were likely to prevail on both First Amendment and due-process claims. Kelly wrote that Trump's own statements suggested the ban was motivated by displeasure with the outlets' coverage, making it likely unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.
The outlets amended their complaint on October 28 to argue that even though White House credentials were restored, the Trump administration was excluding them from pool assignments in the Oval Office and on Air Force One. They are asking the court to restore that access as well.
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Pending: Trump's $15B Lawsuit Against the New York Times
Trump sought $15 billion in damages from The New York Times, several of its reporters and Penguin Random House over reporting and the book Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father's Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success.
A federal judge dismissed the defamation lawsuit in September 2025.
U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday, appointed by Republican President George H.W. Bush, said Trump's filing violated rules requiring a clear and concise explanation for relief, adding that a lawsuit is not "a public forum for vituperation and invective" or "a protected platform to rage against an adversary."
"A complaint is not a megaphone for public relations or a podium for a passionate oration at a political rally or the functional equivalent of the Hyde Park Speakers' Corner," Merryday wrote.
Rather than ending the case, however, Merryday allowed Trump to file an amended complaint. Trump later submitted a revised version, and the litigation remains pending.
Pending: Trump's $1B Lawsuit Against Pulitzer Board
Trump is seeking at least $1 billion in damages from members of the Pulitzer Prize Board over a 2022 statement defending the Pulitzer Prizes awarded to The New York Times and The Washington Post for reporting on Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Trump argues the statement was defamatory. The case has survived dismissal efforts and remains active in Florida, where discovery and pretrial proceedings are continuing.
In December 2025, the Pulitzer Prize Board asked a Florida court to compel Trump to hand over his tax returns, financial records, and full medical and psychological files in a sweeping discovery request aimed at testing his claims of reputational and emotional harm.
A spokesperson for the Pulitzer Board told Newsweek: “Just like any other plaintiff, the president must articulate and prove his claims with evidence."
In August, the judge in the case was removed after the Freedom of the Press Foundation filed a complaint alleging that the judge who ruled that Trump's case could proceed was being considered for a federal appointment.
Settled: Trump's $10B Lawsuit Over CBS Interview
The president and Paramount Global settled a lawsuit over CBS News' 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris in October 2024 for $16 million. Trump argued that the interview with Harris, who was Trump’s Democratic opponent in that year's presidential election, had been edited to her benefit.
The lawsuit challenges "CBS' partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion calculated to confuse, deceive, and mislead the public," according to court documents.
Trump's attorneys argued that Bill Whitaker's interview with Harris was edited to "attempt to tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party as the heated 2024 Presidential Election—which President Trump is leading—approaches its conclusion."
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, sought $10 billion in damages.
Settled: Trump's Lawsuit Against ABC News
In a deal announced on December 14, 2024, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million toward Trump's presidential library and issue a public apology to settle a defamation lawsuit over inaccurate statements made by anchor George Stephanopoulos during a broadcast earlier this year.
The lawsuit was filed after Stephanopoulos said during a March 10 segment of ABC News' This Week while interviewing Representative Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican, that Trump had been "found liable for rape."
While Trump was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, neither verdict involved a finding of rape as defined under New York law.
In his lawsuit, Trump had accused Stephanopoulos of acting with "actual malice."
Dismissed: Trump's Lawsuit Over Iowa Poll
Trump sued The Des Moines Register, Gannett and veteran pollster J. Ann Selzer over a final 2024 Iowa poll that showed then-Vice President Harris leading in the state before Trump ultimately won it.
The lawsuit sought substantial damages and alleged the poll was deceptive and amounted to election interference. An Iowa judge dismissed the case in September, finding the poll and related reporting were protected speech.
In a written ruling on Wednesday, Judge Scott Beattie of Iowa’s Fifth Judicial District dismissed the lawsuit filed by Trump, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and former Iowa State Senator Brad Zaun.
The suit was dismissed with prejudice, which means Trump cannot file the same claim again. A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said at the time that the president plans to appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court, vowing to pursue “a just and winning conclusion.”
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story.
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