U.S. President Donald Trump has filed a new version of his lawsuit accusing The Wall Street Journal and its parent company News Corp of defamation and seeking $10 billion in damages. The case involves an article about his alleged close ties to Jeffrey Epstein, and a previous complaint had been dismissed by a judge.
The amended complaint was filed in federal court in Florida late Wednesday, meeting a deadline set by a judge. The judge previously rejected the decision, saying there was insufficient evidence to prove the report was motivated by "actual malice" against Trump, a high bar set for defamation lawsuits against public figures.
Trump sued over a July 2025 report. The report stated that in 2003, he sent an "obscene" birthday congratulations letter to the later-disgraced financier Epstein. The text of the congratulatory letter was typed within the outline of a sketch of a naked woman, and Trump's signature was located in the female private parts. The card ended with: "Happy birthday - may every day be a beautiful secret." Trump has repeatedly claimed that the congratulatory letter was a forgery.
"In publishing the reports, the defendants acted without regard to whether the defamatory statements were true and/or deliberately avoided ascertaining the truth," Trump's lawyer Alejandro Brito said in the new complaint.
News Corp has not yet responded to a request for comment.