A US judge has dismissed a case against the publisher of the Wall Street Journal over a story about ties the US president had to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump sued the American newspaper and its owners including Rupert Murdoch in a Florida federal court last summer, asking for at least $10b (£7.4bn) in damages.

The president claimed the newspaper defamed him in a 17 July report that said Trump's name was in a "birthday book" given to Epstein in 2003. In that message, the Journal reported, Trump included a drawing of a woman's body.

Trump said it was "a fake thing" and denied writing it.

US District Judge Darrin Gayles said Trump came "nowhere close" to showing the WSJ acted with actual malice towards him.

The case was dismissed without prejudice, though Trump will be allowed to file a new, amended lawsuit. He has until 27 April to do so.

The standard for "actual malice" in defamation cases means that defendants must prove that a public statement was both false, and that the news organization or individual who made the statement knew or should have known that it was false or acted in reckless disregard of its falsity.

In his ruling, Gayles said he had to dismiss the complaint because Trump had "not plausibly alleged that the Defendants published the Article with actual malice".