Trump sued the newspaper and its owners, including Rupert Murdoch <\/a>on Friday, seeking at least $10bn (\u00a37.45bn) on each of two defamation counts after the Journal wrote an article about a \u201cbawdy\u201d letter he allegedly sent to the financier and child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> for his 50th birthday.<\/p>\n The letter allegedly included a drawing of a nude woman and a message reading: \u201cMay every day be another wonderful secret\u201d.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s lawsuit has done little to prevent the negative publicity he is receiving around the scandal from spreading<\/a>, including from within his own political camp.<\/p>\n Media lawyers explained the different ways in which his lawsuit could unfold, claiming the US President\u2019s legal move is likely to backfire in any scenario.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s case is dismissed\u00a0<\/p>\n Due to the case\u2019s lack of legal standing, Mark Stephens, a high-profile consultant with the legal firm Howard Kennedy, said he \u201cwould be gobsmacked if The Wall Street Journal did not file a suit to have the case dismissed\u201d.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s legal team will have to contend with a \u201cvery high legal bar\u201d, said Stephens, who has previously represented Julian Assange<\/a>, the founder of WikiLeaks.<\/p>\n \u201cThe President is the public figure of all public figures, meaning [prosecutors] will have to show actual malice, meaning Trump has to show Wall Street Journal\u2019s reporting was not only wrong, but that it deliberately reportedly something other than the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n Steve Kuncewicz, a media lawyer at Berrymans Lace Mawer, suggested the case was less an attempt to take a legitimate legal fight to the newspaper and more to do with politics.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an exercise of releasing everything but the Epstein files, so Trump can tell the base he is doing something, without actually getting to the heart of the issue,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n He added that the US Justice Department asking Ghislaine Maxwell<\/a>, Epstein\u2019s jailed former girlfriend, on Tuesday if she will speak to prosecutors is an example of political style outweighing legal substance.<\/p>\n Maxwell would have already disclosed any knowledge she may have had of Trump\u2019s relationship with Epstein in her original trial, Kuncewicz claimed. <\/p>\n Stephens agreed the whole case against the Journal had more of an \u201cassemblage to a dead cat on a table\u201d than anything else.<\/p>\n While Trump filed the case in southern Florida, where he may have expected a judge sympathetic to his views would oversee the case, it emerged on Monday that Darrin Gayles will in fact take on the lawsuit \u2013 the first openly gay black man appointed to the federal bench by Barack Obama.<\/p>\n More evidence is made public before the case is settled<\/p>\n A summary judgment from the judge can be expected in the autumn, Stephens estimated, when it could be determined if the case is thrown out.<\/p>\n If a request to dismiss the lawsuit is rejected, it will go to discovery, meaning The Wall Street Journal and Trump can seek evidence from the other party, which could help their case.<\/p>\n \u201cI would be very surprised if after any summary judgment notion there is not a very strong series of subpoenas to all sorts of people, such as New York district attorneys, the FBI and [Attorney General] Pam Bondi,\u201d Stephens said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey will go after people who have tapes and recordings with interviews. The Wall Street Journal will do everything it can to defend itself.\u201d<\/p>\n This would allow publicity around Trump\u2019s potentially damaging links with Epstein to fester. \u201cReputationally, Trump is setting himself up for a fall. Essentially, you are providing news pegs which people can lawfully report on,\u201d added Stephens. <\/p>\n Kuncewicz believes it is \u201cfifty-fifty\u201d whether or not it will go all the way to a trial or a settlement, as opposed to the case being dismissed.<\/p>\n \u201cTrump, despite the whole weaponisation of justice, has a history of bowing out before he needs to give evidence,\u201d Kuncewicz added. <\/p>\n If there is a settlement, Stephens believes it will have far lower sum than the $20bn (\u00a314.9bn) Trump is asking for.<\/p>\n Trump gives evidence in a trial<\/p>\n Stephens said there is a strong chance The Wall Street Journal will want to take the case to trial after the discovery phase concludes. \u201cWhy would the WSJ settle if the case is not robust?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In this case, the newspaper will \u201cabsolutely\u201d want to hear evidence from and depose Trump, Kuncewicz said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd Trump is on the record saying he is looking forward to Murdoch being deposed,\u201d Kuncewicz added.<\/p>\n Throughout the trial, other news publications are likely to \u201crally around The Wall Street Journal\u201d, Stephens said, \u201cas they will see this case as an existential threat to freedom of expression\u201d.<\/p>\n If the case is not thrown out, it will last \u201cat least a few years\u201d, Kuncewicz claimed. \u201cI could definitely see The Wall Street Journal digging their heels in.\u201d<\/p>\n If Trump does win, he is likely to have to remove from the lawsuit Murdoch and Robert Thomson, the chairman and CEO of News Corp<\/a> \u2013 the company of which The Wall Street Journal is a division.<\/p>\n \u201cThen [Trump] has lost half his case\u2026 that is not positive PR,\u201d said Stephens<\/p>\n If Trump loses it could help prevent a \u201cchilling effect\u201d that is continuing to spread throughout the mainstream media industry in the US<\/a>, following CBS\u2019s parent company, Paramount Global, agreeing to pay Trump $16m (\u00a311.9m) to settle a legal dispute in July.<\/p>\n![\"(FILES)](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SEI_259290621-e1752850289712.jpg\")
Imprisoned British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein (Photo: US district court for the southern district of New York\/AFP)<\/p>\n![\"American](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/SEI_259163573.jpg\")
Jeffrey Epstein and then-real estate developer Donald Trump in 1997 (Photo: Davidoff Studios\/Getty)<\/p>\n