President Trump is planning to go back to court as part of his demand for $10 billion from The Wall Street Journal over its explosive reporting tying him to sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.
The president on Wednesday refiled his defamation lawsuit against the Rupert Murdoch-owned paper after a federal judge earlier this year tossed out his first complaint for legal flaws.
Trump claims the Journal smeared him by publishing a story about an alleged birthday card sent to Epstein that supposedly bore Trump’s signature — a card Trump insists is completely fake, despite lawmakers later releasing it during their Epstein investigation.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Miami, accuses the newspaper and its top brass of knowingly pushing false claims that caused “overwhelming” damage to Trump’s reputation and finances.
Named in the suit are media mogul Rupert Murdoch, Dow Jones, News Corp CEO Robert Thomson, and Journal reporters Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo.
“At the time of publication, Defendants recklessly disregarded whether the Defamatory Statements were true,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in the updated filing.
The Journal is refusing to back down.
Dow Jones blasted back by saying it has “full confidence” in the paper’s reporting and plans to fight the lawsuit aggressively.
The legal war is the latest front in Trump’s escalating battle with major media outlets, many of which he accuses of waging a smear campaign against him as he barrels through his second term in the White House.
Trump has also launched lawsuits against The New York Times, the BBC and The Des Moines Register, while his administration has tightened access for reporters covering federal agencies.
Critics say the president is trying to intimidate the press. The White House insists Trump is “the most open and accessible president ever.”
The case once again drags Epstein’s dark legacy back into the spotlight.
The convicted sex offender died in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, fueling years of conspiracy theories about his ties to the rich and powerful.
Trump has repeatedly said he cut ties with Epstein long before the financier’s criminal scandals exploded publicly in 2006.
Back in April, U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles threw out Trump’s original lawsuit, ruling he failed to meet the tough “actual malice” standard required for public figures in defamation cases.
Now Trump is taking another swing — with billions on the line.
