A United States federal judge has thrown out a defamation case brought against the publisher of The Wall Street Journal over a report linking US President Donald Trump to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump had sued the newspaper and its parent company, including media mogul Rupert Murdoch, in Florida last summer, seeking at least $10bn (£7.4bn) in damages.
The lawsuit centred on a 17 July article which claimed Trump’s name appeared in a “birthday book” given to Epstein in 2003, allegedly containing a drawing of a woman’s body attributed to him.
Trump’s legal team told the BBC the president intends to pursue the case again, describing it as a “powerhouse” suit.
However, US District Judge Darrin Gayles ruled that Trump had come “nowhere close” to meeting the legal standard required for defamation, known as “actual malice”.
The judge said the complaint failed because Trump had “not plausibly alleged that the Defendants published the Article with actual malice”.
The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning it can be refiled. Trump has until 27 April to submit an amended complaint.
Responding to the ruling, Trump’s lawyer said the president would “continue to hold accountable those who traffic in Fake News to mislead the American People”.
Under US defamation law, public figures must prove that a publication was false and made either knowingly or with reckless disregard for the truth.
The WSJ did not publish an image of the alleged note at the time, but later details released by Democratic lawmakers reportedly matched the description in its reporting after documents connected to Epstein were made public.
Trump has denied the allegation, calling the message “a fake thing” and insisting he did not write it.
