The Daily Fuckup

A federal judge in Florida has dismissed Donald Trump’s defamation suit against the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch, but the case is not dead yet. The dismissal was without prejudice, which means Trump can try again if his lawyers can fix the pleading problems the court identified. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/40e7aba7731db9e8800488038cb92a66?utm_source=openai))

The ruling came from U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles on April 13, 2026. According to the court’s order as described in the reporting, the judge found Trump had not made the required showing at this stage that the article was published with malicious intent. That left the original complaint out of court, but it did not close off an amended filing. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/40e7aba7731db9e8800488038cb92a66?utm_source=openai))

Trump then said on social media that the dismissal was “not a termination” and that he would refile the case “on or before April 27th.” Based on that, April 27 appears to be the refile date Trump publicly committed to, rather than a deadline we can safely attribute to the judge’s order without seeing the exact text of the docket entry. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/40e7aba7731db9e8800488038cb92a66?utm_source=openai))

The dispute centers on the Journal’s reporting about a 2003 birthday album letter allegedly bearing Trump’s signature and linked to Jeffrey Epstein. Trump has denied the allegations and sued for $10 billion. For now, the practical result is simple: he lost the first round, but the courthouse door is still cracked open. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/ece8a837f9bd179771f801a765e242e4?utm_source=openai))