President Donald Trump threatened to sue The Wall Street Journal over a news article published on Thursday saying he sent a letter to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Epstein’s 50th birthday.
The Context
The letter bearing Trump’s name, reviewed by the Journal, is dated 2003 and is said to feature several lines of typewritten text surrounded by the outline of a naked woman, sketched in marker.
The illustration also includes two small arcs representing breasts, with Trump’s signature written below the waist and resembling pubic hair, the report said.
The letter reportedly concludes: “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
Trump’s reported birthday letter to Epstein, who died in 2019, was among “dozens” of birthday notes that Epstein’s longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, collected from the financier’s family and friends and compiled in a leather-bound book as a 50th birthday gift to him, the Journal said.
What To Know
The president told the Journal in a Tuesday interview: “This is not me. This is a fake thing. It’s a fake Wall Street Journal story. I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women. It’s not my language. It’s not my words.”
He also said he would file a lawsuit against the newspaper, which is owned by conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch, if it published the story:
“I’m gonna sue The Wall Street Journal just like I sued everyone else,” he said, according to the newspaper.
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email on Thursday evening for comment.
The Journal also reported that Trump’s letter to Epstein featured an outline of a fictional conversation between the two men.
“Voice Over: There must be more to life than having everything,” the note began.
“Donald: Yes, there is, but I won’t tell you what it is,” it continued, according to the paper. “Jeffrey: Nor will I, since I also know what it is.”
“Donald: We have certain things in common, Jeffrey,” the letter said. “Jeffrey: Yes, we do, come to think of it.”
“Donald: Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?”
“Jeffrey: As a matter of fact, it was clear to me the last time I saw you,” the letter reportedly says.
“Trump: A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,” the fictional conversation detailed in Trump’s letter to Epstein concluded.
The president raged against the Journal in a Truth Social post on Thursday evening as well, saying that he personally warned both the paper and its owner, Rupert Murdoch, against publishing the story and threatened to sue them.
Trump went on to say Murdoch told him “he would take care of it but, obviously, did not have the power to do so,” adding that the Journal put out “a false, malicious, and defamatory story anyway.”
Thursday’s report from the Journal comes as the Trump administration continues grappling with the fallout from its conclusion last week that Epstein died by suicide in 2019 in his Manhattan jail cell and that the government is not in possession of a list of Epstein’s “clients.”
The conclusion, released in a two-page memo from Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ), threw a wrench into years of conspiracy theories from the president’s MAGA base—some of which were amplified by Trump administration officials—suggesting that Epstein was murdered and that the government was covering up his client list.
Trump has repeatedly distanced himself from Epstein, calling him a “creep” earlier this month when he was asked about the DOJ’s conclusion and saying his base should move on from Epstein. Trump’s allies, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, spent months suggesting they would release a trove of incriminating documents tying Epstein—who in 2008 pleaded guilty in Florida to soliciting prostitution and soliciting a minor for prostitution—to wealthy and powerful figures.
What People Are Saying
Democratic Representative Sean Casten of Illinois wrote on X: “Like all things Trump, this is simultaneously disgusting and entirely unsurprising. He is exactly who we always understood him to be.”
Technology reporter Kara Swisher reacted to the report on Thursday evening, telling CNN’s Anderson Cooper: “Even if he denies it … it creates a feeling, and especially online, that gets amplified and really weaponized in a lot of ways. So it’s not going to end here until he releases these files in some substantive way, which he seems reluctant to do…”
Trump ranted about the Journal on Truth Social, writing: “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. Mr. Murdoch stated that he would take care of it but, obviously, did not have the power to do so. 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.”
He wrote that he will sue the Journal, Murdoch, and the Journal‘s parent company, NewsCorp., “shortly,” adding: “The Press has to learn to be truthful, and not rely on sources that probably don’t even exist … If there were any truth at all on the Epstein Hoax, as it pertains to President Trump, this information would have been revealed by Comey, Brennan, Crooked Hillary, and other Radical Left Lunatics years ago. It certainly would not have sat in a file waiting for “TRUMP” to have won three Elections. This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS!”
Update 7/17/25, 8:50 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and context.
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