President Trump mounted a vigorous rebuttal on Thursday night to a report in The Wall Street Journal that he sent a birthday greeting with a sexually suggestive drawing to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.
His alibi: “I don’t draw pictures,” he wrote on Truth Social.
But a review of the president’s past reveals that, for years, Mr. Trump was a high-profile doodler — or at least suggested he was. In the early 2000s, he regularly donated drawings to charities in New York.
“It takes me a few minutes to draw something, in my case, it’s usually a building or a cityscape of skyscrapers, and then sign my name, but it raises thousands of dollars to help the hungry in New York through the Capuchin Food Pantries Ministry,” he wrote in his 2008 book, “Trump Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges Into Success.”
After Mr. Trump was elected president, some of the drawings he signed were auctioned off for thousands of dollars — even as he wrote in his book that “art may not be my strong point.”
The president has a long history of denying reports — only for them to later be confirmed by audio or photos, such as his comments captured on “Access Hollywood” in which he bragged about grabbing women’s genitals, or photos of him flushing documents down the toilet.
The focus on Mr. Trump’s drawings comes as many of his most ardent supporters are calling for transparency around the investigation into Mr. Epstein, who was in a Manhattan jail cell awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges when he died by suicide in 2019. On Thursday night, Mr. Trump said he was authorizing Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the public release of grand jury testimony from the prosecution of Mr. Epstein.
The president vehemently denied the reporting from The Journal and threatened to sue the company, but the report raised new questions about his ties to Mr. Epstein.
Here is a look at some of the other sketches that Mr. Trump has drawn — or at least signed his name to — that have been auctioned over the years:
Mr. Trump often donated sketches of the Manhattan skyline
Over the years, Mr. Trump has donated his artwork to various charities, with many of his sketches focused on the same stretch of Manhattan skyline.
This drawing was later auctioned by Sotheby’s, but was originally donated by Mr. Trump for the Capuchin Food Pantries’ benefit in 2003. The scene is of the Riverside South development project in Manhattan, which Mr. Trump led.
This drawing dates to 2005. It was donated by Mr. Trump to the St. Francis Food Pantries and Shelters organization in New York.
This minimalist drawing of the same Manhattan skyline, sketched by Mr. Trump, also dates to 2005 and was for a charity event benefiting the fight against illiteracy.
Other sketches from Mr. Trump over the years
Mr. Trump is also associated with sketches of bridges and something one auction house described as a “money tree.”
This drawing dates to 2006 and is of the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, N.J.
This drawing signed by Mr. Trump sold for $8,500 and was described by the auction house that sold it as a “money tree” drawing.
Tyler Pager is a White House correspondent for The Times, covering President Trump and his administration.
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