Lead report from CBS News
What happened
A federal judge has dismissed with prejudice Donald Trump's defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch. The court ruled that Trump failed to prove the defendants acted with actual malice regarding reporting on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. This marks the second time courts have blocked Trump's efforts to sue the publication over these stories.
Outlets across the political spectrum agree that a federal judge dismissed Donald Trump's defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch with prejudice.
The coverage is broadly similar across the outlets, focusing on the judicial ruling and the lack of proof regarding actual malice. Center outlets like Bloomberg highlight the monetary scale of the ten billion dollar suit and call it a setback, while the Left outlet Axios frames it within the context of repeated court blocks against the president's lawsuits. The Right outlet Reason Magazine emphasizes the legal threshold for showing the publisher knew the article was likely false.
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Center · CBS News
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Judge dismisses with prejudice Trump lawsuit against Wall Street Journal
In a 20-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami dismissed the suit with prejudice, ruling that President Trump did not prove the defendants made defamatory statements with actual malice.
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Axios ·
CBS News ·
Reason Magazine ·
left: 2 · center: 5 · right: 1. Counts describe displayed outlets, not independent investigations or the accuracy of their reporting.
Source context: In a 20-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami dismissed the suit with prejudice, ruling that President Trump did not prove the defendants made defamatory statements with actual malice.
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Coverage from 10/31/2026, 8:00:16 PM UTC to 10/31/2026, 9:32:54 PM UTC. A missing source may reflect feed or matching limitations.
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Center Left · Axios
Center Right · Reason Magazine
Center · The Wall Street Journal
Center · Bloomberg
Center · PBS NewsHour
2 publishers
A federal judge on Saturday threw out President Trump's lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch over the paper's reporting on Trump's ties to Jeffrey Epstein, Why it matters: It's the second time this year courts have blocked Trump's efforts to sue the paper over stories about his relationship with the disgraced financier.This is a…
A federal judge in Florida has tossed a revised version of President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation suit against The Wall Street Journal over a story about a birthday card he allegedly sent Jeffrey Epstein more than two decades ago.
5 publishers
In a 20-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami dismissed the suit with prejudice, ruling that President Trump did not prove the defendants made defamatory statements with actual malice.
The ruling tosses the president’s claims that he was defamed by an article about a birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein.
A federal judge threw out Donald Trump’s renewed $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and ruled that it can’t be filed again, marking another setback for the president’s legal fights with the press.
U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami dismissed the suit with prejudice, ruling that the president did not prove the defendants made defamatory statements with actual malice as required by law.
1 publisher
The court concludes that Trump hadn't adequately alleged facts supporting a showing that the Journal published the article knowing that it was likely false.
