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Trump files defamation suit over 'Wall Street Journal' story on his Epstein ties
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President Trump speaks during a meeting with Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa in the Oval Office Wednesday.
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President Trump has filed a defamation suit against The Wall Street Journal and others for publishing an article detailing ties to Jeffrey Epstein, including a lewd birthday card with Trump's signature that he says he did not write.
The defamation suit, filed in the Southern District Court of Florida late Friday, asks for at least $10 billion in damages and also names the Journal's parent company NewsCorp, its chief executive Robert Thomson, NewsCorp Chairman Rupert Murdoch and the two reporters who authored the story.
At issue is the Journal's reporting on a compilation of birthday letters given to the billionaire financier in 2003, three years before Epstein was first arrested.
The article claims that the letters were among the materials in an Epstein investigation, including one with the outline of a naked woman where the signature "Donald" can be seen. The letter purportedly concludes with: "Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret." NPR has not verified the material detailed in the article.
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Trump announced the lawsuit in a post on Truth Social, saying it was 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."
In a Truth Social post Thursday evening, Trump called the story "false, malicious, and defamatory" and said the Wall Street Journal, parent company NewsCorp and Rupert Murdoch, chairman emeritus of NewsCorp, were warned that they would face legal action if the story was published.
"The Wall Street Journal, and Rupert Murdoch, personally, were warned directly by President Donald J. Trump that the supposed letter they printed by President Trump to Epstein was a FAKE and, if they print it, they will be sued," the post read.
He repeated that threat Friday morning, calling the Wall Street Journal a "pile of garbage newspaper" and once again calling its owner out by name.
"I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his 'pile of garbage' newspaper, the WSJ. That will be an interesting experience!!!" he posted on Truth Social.
Trump also said Thursday he would direct Attorney General Pam Bondi to release some files from Epstein's criminal case — though not the full court records.
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"Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval," Trump posted.
Bondi said online Thursday that she'd be prepared to move in court to have these documents released Friday.
Trump doubled down on his false claim that interest in the Epstein files was a "hoax" perpetrated by Democrats in a separate post on Truth Social Friday, asking why a "smoking gun" on Epstein, who died during Trump's first term, wasn't released during the Biden administration.
"BECAUSE THEY HAD NOTHING!!!" he wrote.
Trump's escalating response
Trump has faced backlash from his base after a review released last week by the Justice Department and FBI found no evidence to support conspiracy theories about the life and death of the financier.
Epstein was arrested again in 2019 on federal charges of sex trafficking minors but died by suicide in his jail cell before he was tried in court. Though his death was ruled a suicide, some Trump supporters and others believe he was killed to silence him from revealing the names of powerful men who took part in the sexual abuse of underage girls.
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Up until the memo was released about a week ago, Bondi, Trump and other administration officials had pushed various conspiracies and claimed that files exposing the truth about the convicted sex trafficker would soon be published.
Following the revelation that there were no "Epstein files," much of the bad news cycle has been influenced by the president's own actions.
Trump told his supporters to essentially move on from the Epstein story last weekend. The Journal says it interviewed Trump for its story Tuesday; on Wednesday, Trump called those who question the narrative around Epstein's death and are calling for more transparency "stupid" and "foolish."
The continued focus on the Epstein case has also highlighted other high-profile Republicans changing their positions to defend the president, like Vice President Vance.
Vance called the Journal story "complete and utter bull****" on X Thursday and said the outlet "should be ashamed for publishing it."
In 2021, Vance struck a different tune online:
"If you're a journalist and you're not asking questions about this case you should be ashamed of yourself," Vance wrote. "What purpose do you even serve? I'm sure there's a middle class teenager somewhere who could use some harassing right now but maybe try to do your job once in a while."
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As recently as last month, Vance said on the Theo Von podcast that the government should "release the Epstein list."
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