Former U.S. President Donald Trump has asked a federal judge to allow his defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal to move forward, accusing the paper of deliberately publishing a false story linking him to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In his latest filing in the Southern District of Florida, Trump’s attorneys argued that the Journal, its parent company News Corp., and senior editors acted with “reckless disregard for the truth” when they reported on an alleged 2003 birthday letter supposedly written by Trump to Epstein. The story, published on July 17, 2025, claimed a letter “bearing Trump’s name” was part of a collection assembled by Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Trump’s lawyers say the paper never verified the letter’s authenticity and failed to review any original document before publication. They accuse the Journal of publishing “a salacious, scandal-driven narrative” aimed at humiliating Trump and boosting readership.
The complaint also asserts that the Journal framed Trump’s denial as untruthful and linked him to Epstein in a way that subjected him to “hatred, ridicule, and contempt.” Trump’s team says the article was defamatory both per se and per quod, and that its tone demonstrated actual malice — the key legal standard for public figures pursuing defamation claims.
The Journal’s defense team has moved to dismiss the case, arguing the article was “substantially true” and protected by the First Amendment. They say the material was part of official records from the Epstein estate, and that Trump’s lawsuit threatens to chill press freedom.
Legal analysts note that Trump faces an uphill battle. Constitutional law expert Shawn Trier told ABC News that for Trump to prevail, he must show the Journal either knew the letter was false or had clear reason to believe it was forged but published it anyway.
If allowed to proceed, the case could become a major test of how far journalists can go in reporting on sensitive materials tied to disgraced figures — and whether Trump, a declared presidential candidate, can overcome the high legal bar required to prove actual malice against one of America’s most powerful newspapers.
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