United States President Donald Trump’s second attempt to sue the Wall Street Journal was dismissed with prejudice on Saturday, ending his pursuit of a defamation lawsuit over the news outlet’s reporting on his ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The US District Court for the Southern District of Florida held that Trump again failed to show actual malice, a requirement for a public figure’s defamation claim. “As with his first attempt, he has failed,” Judge Darrin P. Gayles wrote.
Gayles highlighted the paper’s “thoughtful and detailed investigation” and reporters’ efforts to seek comment from Trump and other officials before publishing the article. “Grasping at straws, the Amended Complaint attempts to manufacture flaws with the investigation,” Gayles wrote.
Trump’s lawyers argued that the story should have been dropped after he denied involvement with Epstein. “That is not what the actual malice standard requires and runs afoul of the First Amendment,” Gayles wrote.
Trump had refiled the lawsuit seeking at least $10 billion in damages. Saturday’s dismissal with prejudice means the case cannot be brought before the court again.