{"id":2590303,"date":"2026-04-13T16:15:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T20:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-judge-throws-out-trumps-epstein-birthday-letter-lawsuit-but-the-fight-isnt-over-yet\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T16:19:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T20:19:20","slug":"federal-judge-throws-out-trumps-epstein-birthday-letter-lawsuit-but-the-fight-isnt-over-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-judge-throws-out-trumps-epstein-birthday-letter-lawsuit-but-the-fight-isnt-over-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal Judge Throws Out Trump&#8217;s Epstein Birthday Letter Lawsuit &#8211; But the Fight Isn&#8217;t Over Yet"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffederal-judge-throws-out-trumps-epstein-birthday-letter-lawsuit-but-the-fight-isnt-over-yet%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2590303&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A federal judge in Florida ruled that Donald Trump\u2019s defamation suit against The Wall Street Journal and others could not proceed as filed because it failed to plead actual malice. The case was dismissed without prejudice, with leave to amend, meaning Trump can file an amended complaint by the stated deadline to refile.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The ruling came from U.S. District Judge darrin P. Gayles, who said the complaint did not establish actual malice by the defendants for publishing a 2003 \u201cbawdy\u201d birthday letter allegedly from Trump to jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The judge noted that Trump\u2019s claim-that the defendants knew the article was false or acted with serious doubt about the truth-did not meet the legal standard for actual malice.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The court also indicated that, in at least one respect, Trump\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotus-rejects-challenge-to-md-ar-15-ban-ri-ammo-limit\/\" title=\"SCOTUS Rejects Challenge To MD AR...15 Ban, RI Ammo Limit\">case fell short<\/a> of the required standard, and it postponed resolving certain material facts to another day.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The complaint was dismissed without prejudice and with leave to amend; the court denied fees and costs to the defendants without prejudice if Trump revises and refiles.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The 2003 article described a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/smithsonian-exhibit-reduces-american-womens-history-to-cheap-ideological-falsehoods\/\" title=\"Smithsonian Exhibit Reduces American Women\u2019s History To Cheap, Ideological Falsehoods\">hand-drawn depiction<\/a> and cryptic dialog involving Epstein, with questions raised about the letter\u2019s authenticity and authorship; some experts questioned the likelihood that Trump authored the note.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Trump has a deadline to file an amended complaint, and a spokesperson said he intends to refile and continue pursuing the case against the WSJ and others.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>President Donald Trump will have another chance to file his defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and others.<\/p>\n<p>So said U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles, who <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.flsd.693830\/gov.uscourts.flsd.693830.59.0_2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ruled<\/a> Monday that the president, in suing the WSJ for publishing the contents of what it called a &ldquo;bawdy&rdquo; 2003 birthday letter allegedly from Trump to the now-deceased sex offender and suspected sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, failed to prove malice on the defendants&rsquo; part.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Here, the Complaint falls short of pleading actual malice,&rdquo; Gayles wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, the judge added that in at least one respect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/trumps-blasphemous-post-draws-backlash-christian-conservatives\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Trump&rsquo;s<\/a> case fell short of the legal standard.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Complaint also alleges that President Trump told Defendants that the Letter was a fake before they ran the Article,&rdquo; Gayles wrote. &ldquo;President 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.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadAnyclip() { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst container=document.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!container) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=\"https:\/\/player.anyclip.com\/anyclip-widget\/lre-widget\/prod\/v1\/src\/lre.js\"; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"pubname\", \"westernjournalcom\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"widgetname\", \"001w000001jULVcAAO_M12924\");  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ append inside the container so player shows in correct spot \t\t\t\t\t\tcontainer.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadAnyclip(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #anyclipvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#anyclipvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>The judge then indicated that in order to establish malice &ldquo;a plaintiff must show the defendant deliberately avoided investigating the veracity of the statement in order to evade learning the truth.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Complaint comes nowhere close to this standard,&rdquo; Gayles wrote.<\/p>\n<p>On July 17, 2025, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/politics\/trump-jeffrey-epstein-birthday-letter-we-have-certain-things-in-common-f918d796?st=bhCa46\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WSJ<\/a> claimed that in 2003 Trump sent Epstein a &ldquo;bawdy&rdquo; birthday note. Inside an <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >apparently hand-drawn outline<\/a> of a naked woman, the now-president allegedly crafted a cryptic, imagined dialogue between himself and Epstein, complete with a signature &ldquo;mimicking public hair&rdquo; in the naked woman&rsquo;s private area.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the text of the alleged Trump letter sounded strange to many who know the president&rsquo;s familiar style. In fact, an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/we-asked-ai-who-wrote-the-trump-epstein-note-and-the-answer-it-gave-blew-our-minds\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">analysis via Grok AI<\/a> placed the likelihood of Trump&rsquo;s authorship at only 15 percent.<\/p>\n<p>Likewise, former FBI analyst Wayne Barnes, commissioned to examine the birthday letter by the conservative news site Just the News, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/fbi-expert-blasts-trump-epstein-birthday-note-s-stunning-clue-makes-highly-unlikely-trumps-signature-authentic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">detected problems<\/a> with paper coloration, which meant, he said, that the Epstein birthday letter likely included a &ldquo;fraudulent signature.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fedbar.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Gayles-Hon-Darrin-P-aspx-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gayles<\/a>, appointed to the federal judiciary by President Barack Obama in 2014 and confirmed 98-0 by the Senate, acknowledged questions about both the birthday letter&rsquo;s authenticity and the defendants&rsquo; claims to First Amendment protections.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;However,&rdquo; he wrote, &ldquo;most of those questions are for another day.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In fact, Gayles took multiple actions consistent with a judge who intended to postpone resolving questions of material fact.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Because the Complaint is dismissed without prejudice and with leave to amend,&rdquo; the judge wrote, &ldquo;the Court denies Defendants&rsquo; request for fees and costs without prejudice and with leave to renew.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In other words, since the case&rsquo;s merits remain unresolved, Gayles did not rule that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/trump-threatens-china-massive-consequences-provide-iran-weapons\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Trump<\/a> brought a frivolous lawsuit, which would have required the president to pay the defendants&rsquo; attorneys&rsquo; fees and costs.<\/p>\n<p>Likewise, the judge gave Trump an Apr. 27 deadline to file an amended complaint.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;President Trump will follow Judge Gayles&rsquo;s ruling and guidance to refile this powerhouse lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and all of the other Defendants,&rdquo; a Trump spokesperson said in a statement, per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/04\/13\/trump-epstein-murdoch-wsj-lawsuit-dismissed.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CNBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The President will continue to hold accountable those who traffic in Fake News to mislead the American People,&rdquo; the statement added.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8211; A federal judge granted President Donald Trump a path to refile his defamation suit against The Wall Street Journal and others, but ruled that his current complaint fails to show actual malice by the defendants. The case centers on the Journal\u2019s publication of what it described as a bawdy 2003 birthday letter allegedly from Trump to Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Judge Darrin P. Gayles said the complaint does not plead actual malice, and he rejected one argument-that Trump\u2019s claim he told the defendants the letter was fake before publication proves malice-finding that it does not meet the legal standard.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; To prove malice, the plaintiff must show the defendants deliberately avoided investigating the truth; Gayles concluded the complaint falls short of this threshold. He dismissed the case without prejudice, meaning Trump can amend and refile, and he denied fees and costs for now.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Trump was given until April 27 to submit an amended complaint. A Trump spokesman said the president will follow the judge\u2019s ruling and refile the lawsuit, vowing to hold accountable those who traffic in \u201cFake News.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The background includes a 2025 Journal report claiming the 2003 note was sent to Epstein, with commentary from analysts who questioned the letter\u2019s authenticity (for example, Grok AI assigned only a 15% likelihood of Trump authorship, and a former FBI analyst pointed to a potentially fraudulent signature). Gayles noted that questions about authenticity and First Amendment protections remain for another day.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The judge, an Obama appointee confirmed 98-0, indicated he did not decide the merits of the case and did not label Trump\u2019s suit frivolous, leaving open the possibility of further amendments as the litigation proceeds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2590304,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Michael-Featured-Image-921.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[7584,9006,38298,4585,3634],"class_list":["post-2590303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-appeal","tag-epstein","tag-federal-court","tag-lawsuit","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Michael-Featured-Image-921.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2590303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2590303"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2590303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2590307,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2590303\/revisions\/2590307"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2590304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2590303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2590303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2590303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}