India, Aug. 6 -- Legal proceedings surrounding the multi-billion-dollar defamation claim brought by US President Donald Trump against media titan Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal have met with intense judicial scepticism during recent federal hearings.

The high-stakes legal battle originated from a July 2025 investigative report published by the newspaper, which detailed a controversial 2003 birthday letter purportedly bearing Trump's signature and a lewd drawing compiled for disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Although US District Judge Darrin P Gayles initially dismissed the lawsuit in April after finding that the initial complaint failed to adequately establish actual malice, the legal team refiled an amended version. Howe...