US President Donald Trump says he plans to sue media mogul Rupert Murdoch and News Corp over a report in The Wall Street Journal that claims he wrote a sexually suggestive birthday letter to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In a post to his Truth Social platform on Thursday, Mr Trump denied the story and condemned the Murdoch-owned newspaper’s reporting of what he called “a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein”.
The paper reported that Epstein had been gifted a leather-bound book of “bawdy” letters from associates for his 50th birthday in 2003, including a letter bearing Mr Trump’s name alongside a drawing of a naked woman.
“The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein. These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures,” the president said in his Truth Social post.
“I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn’t print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I’m going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper.”
Donald Trump with his then-girlfriend (and future wife) Melania, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in Florida in February, 2000. (Getty Images: Davidoff Studios)
Shortly after his first post on the issue, Mr Trump said he had asked Attorney-General Pam Bondi to produce any and all “pertinent” grand jury testimony related to the Epstein case, a move that would fall well short of what has been demanded by even his own supporters.
How experts say Trump set his own trap on the Epstein files
“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,” he wrote.
“This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!”
Shortly after Mr Trump’s statement, Ms Bondi said on X that the Justice Department was ready to ask the court on Friday, local time, to unseal the grand jury transcripts.
“President Trump — we are ready to move the court tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts,” she wrote.
Epstein, a financier and convicted sex offender, died in prison in 2019.
Report alleges Trump wrote of ‘wonderful secret’ in birthday letter
Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social that the White House had warned Mr Murdoch about the validity of the letter, but that the newspaper had gone ahead with the story anyway.
“Mr. Murdoch stated that he would take care of it but, obviously, did not have the power to do so,” the statement said.
“The Editor of The Wall Street Journal, Emma Tucker, was told directly by Karoline Leavitt, and by President Trump, that the letter was a FAKE, but Emma Tucker didn’t want to hear that. Instead, they are going with a false, malicious, and defamatory story anyway.”
Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch in Aberdeen, Scotland in 2016. (Reuters: Carlo Allegri)
The letter was reportedly collected by Epstein’s partner, disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, as part of a birthday album for Epstein years before the wealthy financier was first arrested in 2006 and subsequently had a falling-out with Mr Trump.
The letter, which bears Mr Trump’s name, includes text framed by the outline of what appears to be a hand-drawn naked woman and ends with, “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,” according to the newspaper.
The outlet described the contents of the letter, but did not publish a photo showing it entirely.
The ABC has contacted News Corp for further comment.
Maxwell was arrested in 2020 and convicted a year later on charges that she helped Epstein lure girls to be sexually abused.
Epstein client list sparks growing MAGA rift
The latest controversy comes amid a growing rift within the president’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) Republican coalition over the Epstein files, and a reported “client list” the FBI says does not exist.
Why top Trump officials are fighting over an Epstein document they say does not exist
The FBI announced last week it would not release any further documents related to Epstein or his suicide in a New York jail cell.
On Thursday, Mr Trump labelled many of his supporters “stupid” and “weaklings” for believing what he describes as the “Jeffrey Epstein hoax”.
In his Truth Social post, the US president compared claims of an Epstein client list to other high-profile sagas, including allegations Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
Mr Trump has previously pointed the blame at the Democrats for peddling the story.
“The Radical Left Democrats have hit pay dirt, again!”
Loading…
Mr Trump knew Epstein socially in the 1990s and early 2000s.
During the 2021 trial of Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell, the financier’s long-time pilot, Lawrence Visoski, testified that Mr Trump flew on Epstein’s private plane multiple times.
Mr Trump has denied ever being on the plane, and has not been accused of any wrongdoing.