Trump Sues WSJ for $20B Over Epstein Letter

President Donald Trump has followed through on his vow to file suit against The Wall Street Journal, alleging the newspaper falsely reported that he sent a suggestive birthday letter in 2003 to the now-deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump filed the suit Friday, seeking at least $20 billion, in federal court in Miami, before announcing it in a post on Truth Social.

“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.

The suit alleges defamation by the newspaper for an article that was published Thursday amid renewed scrutiny of Trump’s relationship with Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges.

In addition to the Journal and its parent company, News Corp, the suit names WSJ reporters Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo. It also names News Corp CEO Robert Thomson and Chairman Emeritus Rupert Murdoch.

Dow Jones, which publishes the Journal, plans to contest the suit. “We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit,” it said in a statement.

The complaint accuses the Journal of “glaring failures in journalistic ethics and standards of accurate reporting” that it alleges violated the mission of Dow Jones, WSJ’s publisher, and harmed Trump’s reputation.

“Hundreds of millions of people have already viewed the false and defamatory statements published by Defendants,” Trump’s complaint reads. “And given the timing of the Defendants’ article, which shows their malicious intent behind it, the overwhelming financial and reputational harm suffered by President Trump will continue to multiply.”

The article said that the Department of Justice reviewed the 2003 letter from Trump to Epstein as part of its investigation into the convicted sex offender. It said the letter, was part of a book of messages organized by Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein’s 50th birthday. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 for aiding Epstein’s sexual abuse of minors.

Following the report, the president directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to ask a federal judge to unseal grand jury testimony in Epstein’s criminal case, a process she set in motion on Friday, which faces several procedural and legal obstacles.

In his complaint, Trump accused the reporters of falsely presenting as fact that Trump authored, signed and annotated the lewd birthday card, claiming that “no authentic letter or drawing exists.”

Trump called the filing “a POWERHOUSE Lawsuit” in his social media post, repeating his allegations that the article is “false, malicious, defamatory, FAKE NEWS.”

“This historic legal action is being brought against the so-called authors of this defamation, the now fully disgraced WSJ, as well as its corporate owners and affiliates, with Rupert Murdoch and Robert Thomson (whatever his role is!) at the top of the list,” Trump wrote.