Judge Dismisses Trump’s $10 Billion Defamation Suit Against Wall Street Journal
Image: USA Today

Judge Dismisses Trump’s $10 Billion Defamation Suit Against Wall Street Journal

13 April, 2026.USA.23 sources

The story in 15 seconds

  • Judge Gayles dismissed Trump's $10B defamation suit against WSJ over Epstein letter.
  • The court gave Trump two weeks to file an amended complaint.
  • The ruling found Trump failed to show actual malice.

The divide · 1 of 4

How the ruling defines or describes the standard for actual malice

Shows variance in emphasis: BBC frames the ruling as Trump failing to meet the malice standard (with the judge saying he came nowhere close), while Axios stresses the plaintiff’s allegation as insufficient rather than stating a direct comparison to the standard.

Who skipped what

How each outlet frames it

Every outlet we compared, the headline it ran, and a link to the original article.

Source Diversity
23 sources
Western Mainstream
18
Other
3
Local Western
2

Western Mainstream

ABC
ABC

Trump's defamation lawsuit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein story dismissed

13 April, 2026

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ABC News
ABC News

Judge throws out Trump's $10B lawsuit against WSJ over Epstein reporting

13 April, 2026

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AP News
AP News

Judge dismisses Trump’s $10B lawsuit against WSJ, Murdoch over reporting on ties to Epstein

13 April, 2026

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Axios
Axios

Judge tosses Trump's lawsuit against WSJ over Epstein letter

13 April, 2026

Read the original →
BBC
BBC

US judge dismisses $10bn Trump defamation suit against Wall Street Journal

13 April, 2026

Read the original →
CBS News
CBS News

Judge dismisses Trump suit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein birthday letter for now

13 April, 2026

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CNBC
CNBC

Judge dismisses Trump $10B defamation lawsuit against Murdoch, WSJ about Epstein letter

13 April, 2026

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CNN
CNN

Judge tosses Trump’s Wall Street Journal defamation lawsuit, gives him chance to refile

13 April, 2026

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LiveNOW from FOX
LiveNOW from FOX

Trump’s $10B Wall Street Journal lawsuit over Epstein ties dismissed by judge

13 April, 2026

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NBC News
NBC News

Judge tosses Trump's $10 billion suit against the WSJ over Epstein birthday book report

13 April, 2026

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New York Post
New York Post

Judge dismisses $10B Trump lawsuit against WSJ over Epstein letter report

13 April, 2026

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NPR
NPR

Judge dismisses Trump's $10B lawsuit over the Wall Street Journal's Epstein reporting

13 April, 2026

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Politico
Politico

Judge dismisses Trump’s lawsuit against WSJ over Epstein birthday letter

13 April, 2026

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The Guardian
The Guardian

Judge dismisses Trump’s lawsuit against Wall Street Journal and Murdoch

13 April, 2026

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The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter

Trump’s $10 Billion Lawsuit Over Epstein Story In Wall Street Journal Dismissed — But Not For Good

13 April, 2026

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The New York Times
The New York Times

Judge Dismisses Trump’s Suit Over WSJ Report on Birthday Card to Epstein

13 April, 2026

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The Washington Post
The Washington Post

Judge dismisses Trump’s lawsuit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein drawing

13 April, 2026

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USA Today
USA Today

Trump lawsuit against WSJ over lewd Epstein birthday letter dismissed

13 April, 2026

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Other

Alianza de Medios MX
Alianza de Medios MX

Juez federal desestima demanda de Trump contra The Wall Street Journal por caso Epstein

14 April, 2026

Read the original →
Spectrum Bay News 9
Spectrum Bay News 9

Judge dismisses Trump's $10B lawsuit against Wall Street Journal, Murdoch

13 April, 2026

Read the original →
The Journal Record
The Journal Record

US judge throws out Trump’s defamation case against Wall Street Journal

13 April, 2026

Read the original →

Local Western

Le Devoir
Le Devoir

A judge rejects Trump's defamation suit against the Wall Street Journal over the Epstein case.

13 April, 2026

Read the original →
Le HuffPost
Le HuffPost

The Wall Street Journal's response to Donald Trump's fury.

13 April, 2026

Read the original →

Full story

Judge Dismisses Trump WSJ Suit

A federal judge dismissed Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch.

In short: A judge has dismissed Donald Trump's $US10 billion ($14 billion) lawsuit against News Corporation's Wall Street Journal and its owner, Rupert Murdoch

ABCABC

Judge Gayles ruled Trump came nowhere close to showing the WSJ acted with actual malice.

Image from ABC
ABCABC

The ruling was unanimous across multiple outlets, including Axios, BBC, CNBC, and NPR.

Trump announced plans to refile by April 27.

The Epstein Birthday Letter

The lawsuit centered on a 2003 birthday letter Trump allegedly sent to Epstein.

The letter featured a hand-drawn outline of a naked woman with Trump's signature mimicking pubic hair.

Image from ABC News
ABC NewsABC News

Trump denied writing the letter, calling it a fake thing.

The letter was later released publicly by Congress after being obtained from Epstein's estate.

Trump had called Murdoch personally to try to prevent publication.

Reactions and Next Steps

Trump's legal team said they would refile the lawsuit.

Dow Jones issued a statement saying they were pleased with the decision.

The judge gave Trump until April 27 to file an amended complaint.

The ruling marks another blow to Trump's efforts to challenge critical media coverage.

Trump had a long-standing friendship with Epstein that ruptured in the mid-2000s.

The deep audit

How victims, perpetrators and terms are handled across outlets.

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