President Donald Trump is renewing his legal fight against the Wall Street Journal, arguing that the newspaper and its parent company should be held accountable for publishing a damaging report about an alleged lewd birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein that Trump has flatly denied writing.
In a defamation lawsuit refiled Tuesday, Trump is seeking $10 billion in damages from the Journal’s publisher, Dow Jones, and two reporters over a July 2025 article that said a letter bearing Trump’s name was included in a collection of messages given to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003. The Journal reported that the letter included an outline of a naked woman.
Trump has denied writing, drawing or signing the letter, and his legal team argues the newspaper failed to prove that he did. The lawsuit says the story contained “glaring failures in journalistic ethics and standards of accurate reporting” and falsely presented disputed claims as fact.
“President Trump has refiled his powerhouse lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and all of the other Defendants,” a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team told CNN. “The President will continue to hold those who mislead the American People with Fake News and smears accountable for their actions.”
The president is right to fight the characterization, particularly if the Journal has not publicly produced corroborating evidence proving that Trump authored the letter. In a media environment where politically explosive stories can shape public opinion instantly, outlets that publish serious allegations about a sitting president should be expected to meet the highest evidentiary standards. When they do not, Trump and other public figures have every right to seek accountability in court.
Trump’s first lawsuit over the story was dismissed last month after a federal judge ruled that he had not plausibly alleged the Journal acted with “actual malice,” the high legal standard public officials must meet in defamation cases. But the refiling signals that Trump’s team intends to continue pressing the issue and challenge what it views as reckless reporting.
Dow Jones previously defended the article, saying it had “full confidence in the rigor and accuracy” of the Journal’s reporting and would “vigorously defend” itself.
The case is part of Trump’s broader campaign against major media outlets since returning to office. He has also filed a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against the New York Times, accusing it of functioning as a “virtual mouthpiece” for the Democratic Party, and sued the BBC for $10 billion over its editing of his January 6, 2021, speech.
Trump and his allies argue that elite media organizations have operated for too long without consequences when publishing claims that damage reputations and influence elections. With the Journal lawsuit revived, the dispute now becomes another test of whether powerful news organizations can be forced to answer for reporting that Trump says was not just wrong, but reckless.
