Trump sues Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch over
reporting on Epstein ties
[July 19, 2025]
By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, LARRY NEUMEISTER and JILL COLVIN
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit
against The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch Friday, a
day after the newspaper published a story reporting on his ties to
wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The move came shortly after the Justice Department asked a federal court
on Friday to unseal grand jury transcripts in Epstein’s sex trafficking
case, as the administration seeks to contain the firestorm that erupted
after it announced that it would not be releasing additional files from
the case, despite previously pledging to do so.
The controversy has created a major fissure between Trump and his loyal
base, with some of his most vocal supporters slamming the White House
for the way it has handled the case, and questioning why Trump would not
want the documents made public.
Trump had promised to sue the Wall Street Journal almost immediately
after the paper put a new spotlight on his well-documented relationship
with Epstein by publishing an article that described a sexually
suggestive letter that the newspaper says bore Trump’s name and was
included in a 2003 album compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday.
Trump denied writing the letter, calling the story “false, malicious,
and defamatory.”
The suit, filed in filed in federal court in Miami, accuses the paper
and its reporters of having “knowingly and recklessly" published
“numerous false, defamatory, and disparaging statements," which, it
alleges, caused “overwhelming financial and reputational harm” to the
president.
In a post on his Truth Social site, Trump cast the lawsuit as part of
his efforts to punish news outlets, including ABC and CBS, which both
reached multimillion-dollar settlement deals with the president after he
took them to court.
“This lawsuit is filed not only on behalf of your favorite President,
ME, but also in order to continue standing up for ALL Americans who will
no longer tolerate the abusive wrongdoings of the Fake News Media,” he
wrote.
A spokesperson for Dow Jones, the Journal's publisher, responded Friday
night, “We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our
reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”
The letter revealed by The Wall Street Journal was reportedly collected
by disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell as part of a birthday
album for Epstein years before the wealthy financier was first arrested
in 2006 and subsequently had a falling-out with Trump.
The letter bearing Trump’s name includes text framed by the outline of
what appears to be a hand-drawn naked woman and ends with, “Happy
Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,” according to
the newspaper.
Trump denied writing the letter and promised to sue. He said he spoke to
both to the paper’s owner, Rupert Murdoch, and its top editor, Emma
Tucker, before the story was published and told them the letter was
“fake.”
“These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw
pictures,” the president insisted.
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President Donald Trump arrives for an event to sign the GENIUS Act,
a bill that regulates stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency, in the
East Room of the White House, Friday, July 18, 2025, in Washington.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The outlet described the contents of the letter but did not publish
a photo showing it entirely or provide details on how it came to
learn about it.
In the lawsuit, Trump takes issue with that fact. The defendants, it
attests, “failed to attach the letter, failed to attach the alleged
drawing, failed to show proof that President Trump authored or
signed any such letter, and failed to explain how this purported
letter was obtained."
“The reason for those failures is because no authentic letter or
drawing exists,” it goes on to charge, alleging that the "Defendants
concocted this story to malign President Trump’s character and
integrity and deceptively portray him in a false light.”
Earlier Friday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche filed motions
in a separate federal court urging them to unseal the Epstein
transcripts as well as those in the case against Maxwell, who was
convicted of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein.
Epstein killed himself in 2019 shortly after his arrest while
awaiting trial.
The Justice Department's announcement that it would not be making
public any more Epstein files enraged parts of Trump's base in part
because members of his own administration had hyped the expected
release and stoked conspiracies around the well-connected financier.
The Justice Department said in the court filings that it will work
with with prosecutors in New York to make appropriate redactions of
victim-related information and other personally identifying
information before transcripts are released.
“Transparency in this process will not be at the expense of our
obligation under the law to protect victims," Blanche wrote.
But despite the new push to release the grand jury transcripts, the
administration has not announced plans to reverse course and release
other evidence in its possession. Attorney General Pam Bondi had
hyped the release of more materials after the first Epstein files
disclosure in February sparked outrage because it contained no new
revelations.
A judge would have to approve the release of the grand jury
transcripts, and it's likely to be a lengthy process to decide what
can become public and to make redactions to protect sensitive
witness and victim information.
The records would show testimony of witnesses and other evidence
that was presented by prosecutions during the secret grand jury
proceedings, when a panel decides whether there is enough evidence
to bring an indictment, or a formal criminal charge.
____
Neumeister and Colvin reported from New York.
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