The lawsuit was filed last summer in a Florida court. Donald Trump accused the newspaper and its owner, Rupert Murdoch, of publishing information that was intended to discredit him.
The case concerned an article from July 17 in which the Wall Street Journal revealed that Trump's name was included in the so-called “birthday book” given to Epstein in 2003. According to newspaper reports, Trump allegedly included a drawing of a female body in it.
Court decision: no evidence of “actual malice”
District Judge Darrin Gayles found, as the BBC reports, that Donald Trump failed to provide sufficient evidence that the Wall Street Journal acted with “actual malice”. This is a key legal standard in defamation cases, requiring proof that that the publication was both false and published with full knowledge of its falsehood or with reckless disregard of the truth.
— Trump “did not come close” to proving that the newspaper acted in bad faith, Judge Gayles said in the ruling.
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The lawsuit was dismissed, although with the possibility of reassembling it after making changes. The former president has until April 27 to make such a decision.
Donald Trump denies and plans further steps
Donald Trump's lawyer announced in an interview with CBS News that his client intends to re-file the lawsuit in a modified form.
— The President will continue to hold accountable those who spread false information to mislead Americans, he stressed.
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Trump himself vehemently denied that had any connection with the birthday note reported by the Wall Street Journal. He described the reports as “false”.
