Lawsuit filed in Florida denies report alleging Trump sent risqué 2003 note to Jeffrey Epstein
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (BN24) — President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Friday against The Wall Street Journal’s parent company, its publisher, two reporters, and media mogul Rupert Murdoch, accusing them of defamation over an article claiming Trump once sent Jeffrey Epstein a birthday letter that included a drawing of a naked woman.
The lawsuit, submitted in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, comes less than a day after the Journal published a report alleging Trump had sent the letter to Epstein in 2003 to mark the financier’s 50th birthday. According to the article, the message included a hand-drawn outline of a nude woman, alongside Trump’s first-name signature.
Trump has strongly denied the claim, calling it “categorically false” and slamming the report as a politically motivated attempt to smear him during a heated election season.
The lawsuit names Dow Jones & Company, News Corp., Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour, and two unnamed reporters as defendants, in addition to Murdoch, the global media executive whose empire oversees the Journal.
None of the defendants had issued a public response to the lawsuit as of Friday afternoon, and the filing has yet to appear on the public court docket.
Trump’s legal team argues the Journal’s reporting is not only defamatory but timed to damage his reputation as he seeks re-election. The complaint also suggests the article is part of a broader pattern of what it describes as “reckless disregard for the truth” in coverage related to Trump’s past associations with Epstein, the disgraced financier who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting federal sex trafficking charges.
The Wall Street Journal article did not provide the original document it cited, and it remains unclear how or where the letter was obtained. The report quickly drew attention given Trump’s long-standing efforts to distance himself from Epstein, despite past social ties in the early 2000s.
While Trump has acknowledged knowing Epstein and appearing with him in photographs, he has repeatedly insisted he cut ties well before Epstein’s legal troubles came to light.
The lawsuit marks yet another legal front for Trump, who is simultaneously facing multiple criminal indictments and mounting civil litigation while running for a second term in the White House. It also underscores his escalating battle with media organizations he views as hostile, particularly as scrutiny around his past associations intensifies.
