A US federal judge has dismissed US President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and its parent company News Corp, ruling he failed to meet the strict legal threshold required to prove “actual malice.”
The case centred on a report linking Trump to a birthday message allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein, which Trump denies authoring and labelled fabricated.
Judge Darrin Gayles said the complaint did not plausibly show the publication knowingly published false information or acted recklessly.
While the lawsuit was dismissed, Trump has been given until late April to file an amended claim, with his legal team indicating he intends to pursue the matter further.
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