Judge throws out Trump lawsuit over publication of letter to Epstein

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Saying the president was “grasping at straws,” US District Judge Darrin Gayles in Miami dismissed the suit with prejudice, ruling that Mr Trump had not proved the defendants made defamatory statements with actual malice as required by law. The ruling said the lawsuit had attempted to “manufacture” flaws in the newspaper’s investigative reporting.

A case thrown out with prejudice cannot be refiled again.

The lawsuit concerned a story published last year that described a sexually suggestive letter and drawing that the Wall Street Journal said bore Mr Trump’s name and was included in a 2003 album compiled by disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein’s 50th birthday.

It included text framed by the outline of what appears to be a hand-drawn naked woman and ends with the words: “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,” according to the newspaper.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Miami, accused the paper and its reporters of having “knowingly and recklessly” published “numerous false, defamatory and disparaging statements,” which, it alleged, caused “overwhelming financial and reputational harm” to the president.

Mr Trump is also embroiled in legal battles involving the BBC, the Associated Press and, most recently, CNN, MS NOW and Politico, which are suing him to regain access after he banished them from the White House in mid-September.

Mr Gayles had previously dismissed the suit in April, saying Mr Trump had failed to make the argument that the article was intended to be malicious. But he allowed the president to file an amended complaint, which he did in May.

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