A Miami federal judge indicated he is likely to dismiss Donald Trump’s refiled $10 billion defamation case against the Wall Street Journal after a 90-minute hearing on Wednesday.
Judge Darrin Gayles pressed Trump’s lawyer on actual malice and financial harm, calling the damages claims “rather conclusory” as the president’s team argued the Journal ignored warnings that its Epstein-letter story was false.
Wall Street Journal and News Corp lawyers said the amended complaint fixed none of the flaws Gayles identified when he threw out the original suit in April, arguing the paper strengthened its case by publishing Trump’s denials.
Gayles did not rule from the bench but said a decision would come soon and agreed to pause discovery, which the defendants said would be burdensome given Trump’s history of suing media outlets.