Donald Trump sues WSJ, Rupert Mudroch over Jeffrey Epstein ‘bawdy’ birthday letter report

Donald Trump has sued Rupert Murdoch and two Wall Street Journal newspaper reporters for libel and slander over claims that he sent the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein a lewd letter on the latter’s 50th birthday and sketch of a naked woman.

The WSJ reporters wrote a story about a collection of letters gifted to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003, including a note bearing Trump’s name and an outline of a naked woman.

Donald Trump’s lawsuit, lodged on Friday and also targeting Dow Jones and News Corp, was filed in the federal court for the Southern District of Florida, in Miami.

The claim — which seeks damages of at least $10 billion — marks a striking escalation in Trump’s ongoing legal offensive against media organisations he considers adversaries. Trump has denied authoring the note in question.

In the 18-page submission, Trump’s legal team accuses the Journal’s parent company of “glaring failures in journalistic ethics and standards of accurate reporting.” The filing also highlights that the Journal, in its report, did not publish the alleged drawing or letter it claimed Trump had authored.

“The reason for those failures is simple — no authentic letter or drawing exists,” Trump’s lawyer argued.

WSJ Report on Trump’s Birthday Letter for Epstein

The Wall Street Journal reported on a 50th birthday greeting that Trump allegedly sent to Epstein in 2003 that included a sexually suggestive drawing and reference to secrets they shared.

It was reportedly a contribution to a birthday album compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence in Florida after being found guilty of sex-trafficking and other charges in 2021.

“A pair of small arcs denotes the woman’s breasts, and the future president’s signature is a squiggly ‘Donald’ below her waist, mimicking pubic hair,” the Journal reported of the alleged drawing. The letter allegedly concluded: “Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.”

Trump vehemently denied the Journal report and claimed the letter was fake. On Friday, he said on Truth Social that he warned Murdoch, the founder of News Corp, the newspaper’s parent company, that he planned to sue.

We have just filed a POWERHOUSE Lawsuit against everyone involved in publishing the false, malicious, defamatory, FAKE NEWS “article” in the useless “rag” that is, The Wall Street Journal. This historic legal action is being brought against the so-called authors of this defamation, the now fully disgraced WSJ, as well as its corporate owners and affiliates, with Rupert Murdoch and Robert Thomson (whatever his role is!) at the top of the list. We have proudly held to account ABC and George Slopadopoulos, CBS and 60 Minutes, The Fake Pulitzer Prizes, and many others who deal in, and push, disgusting LIES, and even FRAUD, to the American People. This lawsuit is filed not only on behalf of your favorite President, ME, but also in order to continue standing up for ALL Americans who will no longer tolerate the abusive wrongdoings of the Fake News Media. I hope Rupert and his “friends” are looking forward to the many hours of depositions and testimonies they will have to provide in this case. Thank you for your attention to this matter. We will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

Donald Trump’s Relationship With Jeffrey Epstein

US President Donald Trump’s association with Jeffrey Epstein — the late convicted sex offender who died in a New York City jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges — has come under heightened scrutiny in recent weeks.

On the campaign trail in 2024, Trump suggested he might release further files relating to sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein, pledging to meet the demands of prominent right-wing figures who have long called for greater government transparency on the case and openly questioned whether Epstein’s death was, as several official investigations concluded, a suicide.

However, a memo issued by Donald Trump’s own Justice Department earlier this month asserted there was no evidence Epstein — who moved in the highest circles of politics and business in the late 20th century — kept a “client list” implicating powerful men in alleged sex crimes.

That disclosure disappointed some of Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters and triggered tensions that threatened to fracture his MAGA coalition.

Trump’s professional relationship with Rupert Murdoch has been similarly fraught — a hot-and-cold dynamic spanning decades. Murdoch’s media empire includes Fox News, America’s most-watched, overtly pro-Trump cable network, which also counts the president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, among its contributors.