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 $10bn (£7.5bn) lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal's parent company Dow Jones and its owner Rupert Murdoch over claims that he wrote a "bawdy" note to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.