Judge dismisses Trump's $10 billion suit against Wall Street Journal over Epstein letter
The federal judge said the president was grasping at straws and barred him from refiling the case.
Key facts
Story- A federal judge threw out Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation suit against The Wall Street Journal on Saturday
- The suit also named Rupert Murdoch and concerned a story on Trump's ties to Jeffrey Epstein
- The judge barred Trump from suing again over the same claims
A US federal judge has dismissed Donald Trump's lawsuit seeking $10 billion from The Wall Street Journal and its owner, Rupert Murdoch. The ruling came on Saturday, 1 November, and the judge barred Trump from filing the same claims again.
The case centred on a Wall Street Journal story about Trump's links to Jeffrey Epstein, the financier who was convicted of sex crimes. Trump had sued for defamation, arguing the report was false and damaged his reputation. In his ruling, the judge said the president was "grasping at straws" in bringing the case.
The dismissal means the court will not hear the claims on their merits. Trump's lawyers have not been quoted in the reports on how they plan to respond, and the newspaper has not commented on the ruling in these reports.
A case about a letter
The story at the heart of the case concerned a letter linked to Epstein and Trump. Trump's lawsuit treated the reporting as defamatory and sought damages of $10 billion, one of the largest sums sought in a media defamation case against a US news organisation.
The ruling does not say whether the reporting was accurate. It turned on the legal grounds for the suit, which the judge found insufficient.
What comes next
The judge's order bars Trump from refiling the suit in the same form, which closes this particular legal route. Further appeals have not been reported at the time of publication. Readers can expect updates if Trump's legal team files an appeal or issues a public response.
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