Donald Trump’s instant reaction to finding out about Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday book-featuring a bawdy card he claims he didn’t write-has been revealed.
The Wall Street Journal published the explosive story on July 15, with allegations that Trump’s contribution to the book from 2003, assembled by Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, was a poem written within a sketch of a naked woman. The signature was placed to resemble pubic hair.
The card included the line “Happy Birthday—and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
The president’s aides informed Trump about the contents of the letter in the birthday book while he was on Air Force One, a new report by the Journal tracking the Trump administration’s failure to contain the ongoing Epstein controversy reveals.
En route to the White House, Trump, 79, told his aides that he would try to kill the story himself before it was published, the Journal claimed.
He added that he believed the letter did not exist and that he would “never write such a letter.” Trump has since repeated the latter claims.
While still on board, Trump called the Journal’s publisher Rupert Murdoch, 94, stating the story was untrue “and that he should handle it” according to a person familiar with the brief call.
The story was published despite Trump’s personal intervention.
A furious Trump took to Truth Social to outline the course of events regarding the infamous letter. “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,” he posted.
“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. President Trump will be suing The Wall Street Journal, NewsCorp, and Mr. Murdoch, shortly.”
The defamation lawsuit was filed, with the Journal stating that defendants have moved to dismiss the case this week.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
Trump was shocked his MAGA fanbase was still fixating on the Epstein issue during a Turning Point USA event in July this year, the Journal article also reports.
Trump reportedly told aides that he “couldn’t understand why people were so obsessed” with Epstein and that they did not understand “that Palm Beach in the 90s was a different time.”
The letter Trump claims he did not write, sketch or sign was finally released to the public earlier this month when the House committee dumped over 30,000 documents relating to Epstein.
Trump and Murdoch were seen together during a State Banquet at Windsor Castle as part of the president’s state visit to the U.K. earlier this month.
Author Michael Wolff claimed it was a strategic move, telling the Daily Beast’s Inside Trump’s Head podcast this month, “What Trump intimates have told me is, because he believes that he can ‘pressure the old man into a settlement.’”
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