Miami, July 20: U.S. President Donald Trump filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against media mogul Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal on Friday, accusing them of publishing a false and damaging story linking him to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The suit, filed in federal court in Miami, comes after The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump sent Epstein a suggestive birthday letter in 2003 featuring a hand-drawn naked woman and referencing a shared “secret.” Trump has denied writing the letter, calling it a “scam” and “fake.”
The lawsuit is the latest attempt by Trump to counter a controversy that has stirred unease among his political base, just months into his second term. “It’s not my language. It’s not my words,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, adding, “I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women.”
The Journal has not commented on the lawsuit, and it remains unclear whether the letter it published as part of its exposé is authentic. Trump’s legal team argues that the publication acted with “actual malice,” a key standard in U.S. defamation law for public figures.
In a parallel move to address mounting speculation and conspiracy theories about Epstein’s death and his alleged client list, Trump has directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the unsealing of grand jury testimony related to the Epstein prosecution. In a court filing in New York, Bondi cited “extensive public interest” as grounds for the request, though grand jury materials are typically kept sealed.
Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges involving underage girls. His death, ruled a suicide, has long fueled conspiracy theories, particularly among Trump’s right-wing supporters who suspect a cover-up involving high-profile elites.
Bondi, however, issued a memo earlier this month stating that there was “no such list” of Epstein clients in government custody, a statement that has deepened divisions within Trump’s MAGA base.
Despite Trump’s public denials of wrongdoing, he had a longstanding social relationship with Epstein, with numerous photographs and videos showing them together at social events in the early 2000s. The Journal’s article said the 2003 birthday letter was one of several included in a gift album compiled by Epstein’s associates.
It remains uncertain whether a court will authorize the release of the grand jury material, or whether such disclosures would resolve questions surrounding Epstein’s alleged network. Asked by reporters on Friday if he would push for broader transparency in the Epstein case, Trump declined to answer.
