The House Oversight Committee obtained a copy of Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday book on Monday.
The book, initially reported on by The Wall Street Journal, was said to contain a strange birthday poem from Trump to Epstein framed by a sketch of a woman’s figure.
The image released verifies the Journal’s reporting, showing the form of a woman surrounding a poem addressed to Epstein in which Trump allegedly wrote “a pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday—and may every day be another wonderful secret. Donald J. Trump.”
There is also a signature at the bottom of the woman’s figure, potentially mimicking pubic hair. It reads “Donald.”
The White House was quick to declare the image a fake, accusing The Wall Street Journal of defamation.
“The latest piece published by the Wall Street Journal PROVES this entire “Birthday Card” story is false,” wrote White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. “As I have said all along, it’s very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it.”
“Time for @newscorp to open that checkbook, it’s not his signature,” White House deputy chief of staff for communications Taylor Budowich wrote. “DEFAMATION!” Attached to his post were four other images of more recent signatures from Trump that were a bit more rigid and sharp than the one shown in the Journal.
But unfortunately for Team Trump, there are countless examples of Trump signing other documents with the signature extremely similar to the one shown by the Journal, demonstrating that Trump’s signature has likely changed over time and that his signature is different when signing his first name versus both of his names.
“Taylor’s examples are all from after he became President, at least two are from 2024,” journalist Damien Toll wrote above Budowich’s post. “The birthday letter is from 2003. For comparison, here’s a book Trump signed for Epstein in 1997, also with just his first name.”
“Two seconds on google I found this 2005 autograph when his signature was clearly different. He spelled out both names. The Dons letter to his friend Jeff just has him signing Donald,” said Talking Point Memo’s Josh Marshall. “Back to the drawing board @TayFromCA.”
Another 1999 letter shows a similar Trump signature.
Each defense the Trump administration has offered has been shaky at best. When reports of his naked woman sketch to Epstein first came out, he responded with, “I don’t draw pictures.” The internet was quick to point out that outright lie, as at least five sketches of his have been auctioned off over the years. Now they’re dismissing a signature that looks very real.
The Trump administration continues to turn to lies and excuses as the Oversight Committee’s possession of the book may lead to new insight into Trump and Epstein’s relationship.
The post That Signature in Epstein Birthday Letter Sure Looks Like Trump’s appeared first on New Republic.
