Trump refiles $12.79 billion defamation suit against WSJ over report on Epstein ties

NEW YORK - US President Donald Trump on May 27 refiled a defamation lawsuit seeking at least US$10 billion (S$12.79 billion) in damages against the Wall Street Journal over its reporting on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, after a judge threw out an earlier version over legal deficiencies.

The lawsuit is one of several Mr Trump has brought in his personal capacity against news organisations, part of what critics say is a wider pressure campaign against the media.

Mr Trump’s lawsuit said the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper tarnished his reputation with an article describing a birthday card to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as bearing Mr Trump’s signature.

Mr Trump and his lawyers said the card is fake, even after it was released ​by lawmakers investigating Epstein’s case.

Mr Trump is seeking at least $10 billion in damages, according to the amended lawsuit.

He had sought the same amount previously.

“At the time of publication, Defendants recklessly disregarded whether the Defamatory Statements were true and/or they purposefully avoided the discovery of the truth,” lawyers for Mr Trump wrote in the amended complaint.

⁠The lawsuit filed in Miami federal court names Mr Rupert Murdoch, Dow Jones, News Corp and its CEO Robert Thomson, along with two Wall Street Journal reporters, Ms Khadeeja Safdar and Mr Joseph Palazzolo, as defendants, saying they defamed Mr Trump and caused him to suffer “overwhelming” financial and reputational harm.

Dow Jones has said it has full confidence in the rigour and accuracy of the Journal’s reporting and will vigorously defend the lawsuit.

Epstein, the disgraced financier and sex offender, died in a New York jail cell in 2019.

His case generated conspiracy theories that became popular among Mr Trump’s base of supporters who believed the government was covering up Epstein’s ties to the rich and powerful.

Mr Trump has said he parted ways with Epstein before the financier’s legal troubles became public in 2006.

US District Court Judge Darrin Gayles, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, threw out Mr Trump’s first complaint in April.

The judge found Mr Trump had not met the “actual malice” legal standard for public figures in defamation cases, which requires evidence that a defendant published a statement that they knew or should have known was false.

Mr Trump has also filed defamation and other lawsuits against other media organisations, including the New York Times, the BBC and Iowa’s Des Moines Register.

Those outlets have denied wrongdoing and are fighting the cases in court.

Mr Trump’s administration has acted to restrict press access to government agencies and threatened to use regulatory powers against critical outlets, drawing legal challenges by media organisations.

The White House has described Mr Trump as the most open and accessible US ⁠president ever, saying his administration has broadened press access in unprecedented ways. REUTERS