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.

President Trump is vowing to sue the Wall Street Journal and owner Rupert Murdoch over the outlet’s bombshell story detailing a 2003 birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein bearing Trump’s name and a drawing of a naked woman.