MIAMI, United States (AFP) — A US federal judge on Monday tossed out a US$10-billion defamation lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump against The Wall Street Journal.

Trump sued media magnate Rupert Murdoch and the Journal in July after it published a report about a birthday letter he allegedly sent to one-time close friend Jeffrey Epstein.

District Judge Darrin Gayles, in a 17-page ruling, said Trump had failed to prove the Murdoch-owned newspaper had knowingly published false statements, the legal standard to prove defamation.

“Because President Trump has not plausibly alleged that defendants published the article with actual malice, both counts must be dismissed,” Gayles wrote.

The judge, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, gave Trump the opportunity to amend his complaint and refile the suit by April 27.

A spokesman for Trump’s legal team said the suit would be resubmitted.

“President Trump will follow Judge Gayles’s ruling and guidance to refile this powerhouse lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and all of the other defendants,” the spokesman said in a statement.

“The president will continue to hold accountable those who traffic in ‘fake news’ to mislead the American people.”

Trump has intensified his long-established hostility toward the media since his return to the White House, and the suit against the Journal is one of numerous attacks against news organisations he accuses of bias against him.

Trump’s attacks on media outlets have seen him restrict access, badmouth journalists critical of his Administration, and bring lawsuits demanding huge amounts of compensation.

According to the Journal, Trump wrote a “bawdy” birthday letter to Epstein in 2003 to mark his 50th birthday, part of an album of messages from rich and well known figures.

Trump’s alleged missive included a hand-drawn illustration of a naked woman and referred to their shared “secret”.

Trump has said he broke off his friendship with Epstein prior to the wealthy financier’s 2008 guilty plea in Florida to solicitation of prostitution with a minor.

Epstein was found dead in a New York prison cell in 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide but, like much else around Epstein, is the subject of lurid conspiracy theories.

The Epstein case has repeatedly overshadowed Trump’s second presidency and led to the downfall of a number of powerful figures around the world who were associated with Epstein.

The US Justice Department has over the past year released huge tranches of files related to Epstein. Trump, 79, figures prominently in the files but has not been formally accused of wrongdoing.