US President Donald Trump will likely have to accept his legal defeat once and for all: his lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal concerning the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein has failed. A federal judge in Florida has dismissed the defamation suit, ruling that Trump cannot amend or refile it.
The American leader had sued the newspaper, its parent company News Corporation, and businessman Rupert Murdoch, seeking at least ten billion dollars in damages. However, he failed to provide credible evidence that the newspaper had knowingly or maliciously disseminated false allegations against him.
The case was triggered by a report in The Wall Street Journal regarding an allegedly lewd letter that Trump supposedly wrote in 2003 for Epstein’s 50th birthday. In addition to a drawing of a naked woman, the letter reportedly contained the phrase: “Happy Birthday, and may every new day be a wonderful mystery.” Trump denies having written or sent this letter to Epstein.
In April, federal judge Darrin Gayles initially dismissed the lawsuit but granted Trump the opportunity to amend it. With this latest ruling, the case has now reached a definitive end. As Der Spiegel notes, the matter unfolds against the backdrop of ongoing debate regarding the US President’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Media outlets have repeatedly reported that the wealthy investor raped minors and young women, and in some instances, made them available to his prominent acquaintances.
In 2008, Epstein was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution. In 2019, he died in his prison cell in New York following a second arrest. Authorities officially ruled the pedophile’s death a suicide. Epstein’s victims maintain that the case was never fully resolved. Consequently, Democrats are calling for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate past ties between Trump and Epstein. Trump has repeatedly dismissed this as a “fake maneuver” by his political opponents and has demanded that the matter no longer be discussed.
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