Gayles serves on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, where Trump's lawsuit was filed. He was appointed to the court by former President Barack Obama in 2014, becoming the first openly gay Black man to serve on the federal bench.

Donald Trump has filed a libel lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch and two Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporters, hours after promising to sue the Australian media mogul over a fiercely denied story tying him to Jeffrey Epstein.