A federal judge has just dealt a major blow to Donald Trump, tossing out his massive $10 billion defamation lawsuit tied to the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein controversy.
On April 13, 2026, U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles dismissed the case against The Wall Street Journal, which had published a bombshell report describing an alleged letter Trump supposedly sent Epstein for his 50th birthday.
The ruling came down to one key legal hurdle.
The court found Trump’s legal team failed to show “actual malice,” a strict standard required when public figures sue media outlets. In simple terms, they could not prove the publication knowingly pushed false information or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.
That standard is notoriously hard to meet and it showed here.
Still, the door is not fully closed.
Judge Gayles allowed Trump the opportunity to refile an amended lawsuit, signaling the fight may not be over just yet. Trump’s legal team quickly responded, promising to come back with what they called a “powerhouse lawsuit.”
At the center of the dispute is a controversial letter described in the Journal’s report, which allegedly included explicit imagery and messaging tied to Epstein’s birthday. While the outlet described the contents, the document later surfaced publicly through congressional channels, intensifying the political firestorm.
Trump has strongly denied the claims, insisting no such authentic letter exists.
The case is just one piece of a much larger legal and political storm.
The Epstein saga has continued to dominate headlines, especially after lawmakers pushed through transparency measures that forced the release of millions of pages of documents tied to the disgraced financier.
Meanwhile, Trump has taken an aggressive legal stance against multiple media outlets, filing a series of high-stakes lawsuits over coverage he claims is misleading or false.
For now, this case is paused.
But with the option to refile and tensions still high, this legal battle may be far from finished.