Judge dismisses Trump’s lawsuit against WSJ over reporting on ties to Epstein

A federal judge has dismissed President Donald Trump’s 10 billion dollars (£7.4 billion) defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch relating to a story over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

US District Judge Darrin P Gayles in Florida wrote in the order that Mr Trump had failed to make the argument that the article was published with the intent to be malicious, but gave the president a chance to file an amended complaint.

Mr Trump filed the lawsuit in July, following up on a promise to sue the paper almost immediately after it put a new spotlight on his well-documented relationship with Epstein by publishing an article that described a sexually suggestive letter that the newspaper said bore Mr Trump’s signature and was included in a 2003 album compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday.

The letter was subsequently released publicly by Congress, which subpoenaed the records from Epstein’s estate.

Mr Trump denied writing it, calling the story “false, malicious, and defamatory”.

Lawyers for the newspaper and Mr Murdoch had asked Judge Gayles to rule that the article’s statements were true and therefore could not be defamatory, but the judge wrote that “whether President Trump was the author of the letter or Epstein’s friend are questions of fact that cannot be determined at this stage of the litigation”.

The ruling marks yet another blow in the Trump administration’s efforts to manage fallout over its release of the Epstein files and the president’s attempts to use the legal system to stifle reporting he finds critical of him.

Neither the White House nor a spokesperson for Dow Jones, which publishes the Journal, immediately responded to requests for comment.