A federal judge tossed Donald Trump’s lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal regarding a Jeffrey Epstein-linked “birthday card.” The president sued the Murdoch-owned publication for $10 billion after they printed an alleged letter from Trump last year.
The note reportedly included a crude drawing and the message: “May every day be another wonderful secret.” President Donald Trump has denied authoring the Jeffrey Epstein letter and insisted the signature was not his. But on Monday Judge Darrin P. Gayles found Trump fell short of the legal standard required to prove defamation, the Daily Mail reports.
Judge Gayles ruled Donald Trump didn’t show the Jeffrey Epstein article was published with “actual malice.” The bar for actual malice requires proof that the report was false and that the publication knew the report was false when they published it.
The Wall Street Journal had not published the photo. It was released by the House Oversight Committee last September after obtaining it from Epstein’s estate. Lawyers for the paper asked the judge to dismiss the case, arguing that the Donald Trump story was truthful and did not rise to the level of defamation under law. The reporters did not knowingly publish false information or have reasons to believe the story wasn’t true, they said.
“This complaint comes nowhere close to this standard,” Gayles wrote in his decision. “Quite the opposite. President Donald Trump argues that this allegation shows that Defendants acted with serious doubts about the truth of their reporting and, therefore, with actual malice. The Court disagrees,” he added.
BREAKING: Federal judge DISMISSES Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal over the Epstein birthday letter story without prejudice.
Judge rules Trump failed to show “actual malice” in a major win for the WSJ.
Link in reply. pic.twitter.com/oFlpvhlNTT
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) April 13, 2026
The article in question centered on a letter allegedly written by Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003 for the disgraced financier’s 50th birthday. “We have certain things in common, Jeffrey,” the note read, adding, “A pal is a wonderful thing.” The message was reportedly written within the outline of a woman’s body.
A federal judge dismissed President Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the publisher of The Wall Street Journal. 🔗 https://t.co/9Q8HiOe5up pic.twitter.com/c1Yfa1Oagl
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) April 13, 2026
Judge Gayles stated that Donald Trump has until April 27 to file an amended version of the lawsuit if he chooses to continue pursuing the case against the paper. Donald Trump’s legal team has reportedly already signaled plans to refile the lawsuit over the Jeffrey Epstein birthday card.
When the story first surfaced, the Trump administration strongly disputed its authenticity. “The latest piece published by the Wall Street Journal proves this entire ‘Birthday Card’ story is false,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt wrote on X. “As I have said all along, it’s very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it.”
“President Trump’s legal team will continue to aggressively pursue litigation,” her statement continued, criticizing the report as “fake news” tied to the “Democrat Epstein Hoax!”
The “birthday book” is suspected to be a compilation of notes put together by Jeffrey Epstein friend Ghislaine Maxwell for his birthday when he turned 50 years old. Maxwell allegedly collected the notes, scanned them and bound them into a book that was gifted to Epstein in 2003. Reports say the book contained notes from many people including a hand-written note from former President Bill Clinton, who had previous social and business connections with Epstein.
