Judge Dismisses Trump's Defamation Lawsuit Against WSJ Publisher

A federal judge on Monday dismissed President Trump's defamation lawsuit against the publisher of The Wall Street Journal.

U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles, based in Miami, ruled Trump hadn't made a valid legal claim that he was defamed by an article about a letter to financier Jeffrey Epstein bearing Trump's name.

The judge said that to show defamation, Trump had to demonstrate that the Journal and its reporters acted with "actual malice," meaning they deliberately published a false story or showed reckless disregard for the truth. Trump failed to show that the reporters acted with ill will and deliberately avoided investigating his claim that the letter was fake, the judge said.

"The complaint comes nowhere close to this standard. Quite the opposite," wrote Gayles, who was appointed by President Barack Obama. He noted that the journalists reached out to Trump, Justice Department officials and the Federal Bureau of Investigation before publication. "In short, the complaint and the article confirm that defendants attempted to investigate."