One of the worst things businesses and the general public did when Donald Trump was about to return to the White House was settle a series of bogus defamation lawsuits filed against networks like CBS and ABC by Trump.
Once Trump realized he could shake down big business for bribes and in doing so delegitimize anyone in the media by making them look guilty if they got their act together.
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He continued to try to discredit stories that are harmful to him while making money through defamation suits.
Trump was furious The Wall Street Journal article on Trump’s birthday card to Epstein, so he filed a suit for defamation.
Justice Darrin Gayles wrote in his decision:
The complaint also alleges that President Trump told defendants that the letter was false before publishing the article. President Trump contends that this allegation shows that the defendants acted with serious doubts about the truth of their reporting and, therefore, with actual malice. The Court disagrees. To establish actual malice, “a plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant deliberately avoided investigating the truth of the statement in order to avoid knowing the truth.” Reed, 2025 WL 1874638, at *3. The complaint falls far short of this standard. Quite the contrary.
The article explains that before publishing the story, the defendants contacted President Trump, Justice Department officials and the FBI for comment. President Trump responded with his denial, the Justice Department did not respond at all, and the FBI declined to comment. In short, the complaint and article confirm that defendants attempted to investigate. The article also states that the WSJ reviewed the letter. [ECF No. 35-2].