Overview
- President Donald Trump refiled the lawsuit in federal court in Miami on Wednesday seeking at least $10 billion and naming Rupert Murdoch, Dow Jones, News Corp, CEO Robert Thomson and reporters Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo as defendants.
- The case centers on a July 2025 Wall Street Journal report that described a 2003 birthday album entry for Jeffrey Epstein that the paper said bore Trump’s name and a crude drawing, a document Trump denies writing even though House Oversight releases included material matching the Journal’s description.
- A federal judge dismissed Trump’s first complaint in April for failing to plausibly allege the ‘actual malice’ standard required of public figures, and the court has since limited pre‑pleading discovery to protect newsgathering practices.
- The amended complaint cites witness statements and a July 2025 interview with Ghislaine Maxwell as evidence the Journal ‘recklessly disregarded’ the truth and argues omissions about verification and how the paper obtained the document show reckless reporting; Dow Jones says it will vigorously defend the story’s accuracy.
- The suit is the latest in a string of high‑value defamation cases Trump has brought against news organizations and it raises two practical stakes: whether an amended pleading can meet the high actual‑malice bar and how courts balance defamation claims with protections for journalistic sourcing and limited discovery.