特朗普诉《华尔街日报》诽谤案被驳回：联邦法官裁定不得再诉
位于美国佛罗里达州迈阿密的联邦地区法院法官达林·盖尔斯（Darrin P. Gayles）10月31日驳回了总统唐纳德·特朗普（Donald Trump）起诉《华尔街日报》（The Wall Street Journal）等人的诽谤诉讼，裁定驳回具有终局效力（with prejudice），特朗普不得以同一诉由再次起诉。法官认定，特朗普未能提出可信依据，证明该报在报道他与杰弗里·爱泼斯坦（Jeffrey Epstein）的关系时怀有法律所要求的「实际恶意」（actual malice）。
盖尔斯在20页的裁定书中写道，这起诉讼试图「制造」该报调查报道中的缺陷，其论证不过是「徒劳地抓救命稻草」（grasping at straws）。法官还指出，如果只因公众人物本人或其团队否认某项指控，记者就被禁止发表负面或相反的报道，那将违反美国宪法第一修正案；并写道，与第一次起诉一样，特朗普这一次「还是失败了」。
案件源于《华尔街日报》2025年7月的一篇报道。该报称，一封带有特朗普姓名、内容带有性暗示的信件，被收录进一本为爱泼斯坦2003年50岁生日汇编的纪念册，纪念册由吉斯莱恩·麦克斯韦尔（Ghislaine Maxwell）收集整理；按该报描述，信文的外框是一个裸体女性的手绘轮廓，结尾写着「生日快乐——愿每一天都是另一个美好的秘密」。特朗普否认写过这封信，称该报道「虚假、恶意、诽谤」。
特朗普随后在迈阿密的联邦法院提起诉讼，被告包括《华尔街日报》、其出版商道琼斯公司（Dow Jones）、母公司新闻集团（News Corp）、媒体大亨鲁珀特·默多克（Rupert Murdoch）和该报两名记者，索赔数十亿美元。诉状称，被告「明知且罔顾真伪」地发表了「大量虚假、诽谤和贬损性的陈述」，给他造成「巨大的财务和声誉损害」。
这已是该案第二次被驳回。盖尔斯今年4月曾驳回特朗普的原始诉状，指其对「实际恶意」的指控流于公式化，远未达到公众人物诽谤诉讼的举证标准，但当时允许他修改后重新提交；特朗普5月提交修订诉状后，法官认定问题仍未解决，遂于10月31日作出终局驳回。特朗普不能再就同一诉由向地区法院重新起诉，但仍可向联邦第十一巡回上诉法院提起上诉。法官尚未裁定《华尔街日报》一方是否有权追讨律师费。
Federal Judge Dismisses Trump's Defamation Lawsuit Against The Wall Street Journal With Prejudice
U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles in Miami, Florida, on October 31 dismissed President Donald Trump's defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and other defendants with prejudice, meaning Trump cannot refile the same claims. The judge ruled that Trump had failed to plausibly allege that the newspaper acted with "actual malice," as the law requires, in its reporting on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
In a 20-page order, Gayles wrote that the lawsuit was "grasping at straws" as it attempted to "manufacture" flaws in the Journal's investigative reporting. He also wrote that if journalists were blocked from publishing negative or contradictory reporting whenever a public figure or his team denied an accusation, that would violate the First Amendment, and that, as with his first attempt, Trump had failed again.
The case stems from a Wall Street Journal story published in July 2025. The newspaper reported that a sexually suggestive letter bearing Trump's name was included in an album compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003; according to the newspaper, the letter's text was framed by the outline of a hand-drawn naked woman and ended with the words, "Happy Birthday - and may every day be another wonderful secret." Trump denied writing the letter and called the story "false, malicious, and defamatory."
Trump then sued in federal court in Miami. The defendants include The Wall Street Journal, its publisher Dow Jones, its parent company News Corp, media mogul Rupert Murdoch and two of the newspaper's reporters, and the suit sought billions of dollars in damages. The complaint accused the defendants of having "knowingly and recklessly" published "numerous false, defamatory, and disparaging statements" that caused "overwhelming financial and reputational harm."
It was the second time the case has been dismissed. Gayles dismissed Trump's original complaint in April, ruling that its assertions of malice were formulaic and came nowhere close to the legal standard for a public figure, but allowed him to file an amended complaint, which Trump did in May. The judge found the revised complaint still failed to resolve those shortcomings and dismissed the case for good on October 31. Trump cannot bring the same claims again in district court, though he may appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The judge has not yet decided whether the Journal's side is entitled to recover its legal fees.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：特朗普总统在白宫椭圆形办公室坚毅桌前展示已签署的法案（2025年7月资料图）。照片：白宫官方照片，Daniel Torok 摄，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / President Donald Trump displays a signed bill at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office (file photo, July 2025). Photo: The White House, by Daniel Torok, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
