US president Donald Trump on Friday accused Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) of defaming him in an article about a lewd birthday greeting that the publication said Trump had sent to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein decades ago.
In a suit filed in US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Mr Trump said the article “falsely claimed that he authored, drew and signed” the note to Epstein.
The complaint claimed that “given the timing” of the article, “the overwhelming financial and reputational harm suffered by President Trump will continue to multiply.” It asked for awarded damages “not to be less than $10 billion.”
The suit named as defendants the WSJ’s parent company, News Corp; Murdoch, News Corp’s founder and former chair; Robert Thomson, News Corp’s CEO; Dow Jones, publisher of the Journal; and two Journal reporters.
The WSJ published the article about the note Thursday under the headline: “Jeffrey Epstein’s Friends Sent Him Bawdy Letters for a 50th Birthday Album. One Was From Donald Trump.” The article described a letter that appeared to be from Mr Trump in a 2003 birthday album compiled for Epstein. The letter, which the WSJ said it had reviewed, had a drawing of a naked woman on it with Mr Trump’s signature below her waist, alluding to pubic hair, the article said.
“Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,” the WSJ said the note read.
Mr Trump denied to the WSJ that he had written the letter and said it was “a fake thing” and threatened legal action.
He repeated his intention to sue in posts on his social media site, Truth Social. “I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his ‘pile of garbage’ newspaper, the WSJ,” Mr Trump wrote Friday morning. “That will be an interesting experience!!!”
A spokesperson for the WSJ did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mr Trump has faced mounting criticism and pressure from his supporters over whether to release documents related to investigations into Epstein, who was charged with running a vast sex-trafficking scheme.
Epstein was found dead in his cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on the charges. His death was ruled a suicide by the New York City medical examiner. Many of Mr Trump’s supporters were upset because they believed that attorney general Pam Bondi was holding back some files related to the Epstein investigation.
On Friday, the Justice Department asked federal judges to unseal grand jury testimony from the Epstein case, as well as from the case of Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 of helping Epstein traffic women for sex.
Mr Trump routinely berates journalists and news organisations, and has increasingly used legal threats and actual litigation against media outlets. His lawsuit over a 60 Minutes report on CBS News resulted in a $16 million settlement with Paramount this month. Last year, ABC News agreed to settle a defamation suit brought by Trump for $15 million, plus $1 million for his legal fees. He recently threatened to sue The New York Times and CNN over their reporting about the US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
In a post on Friday evening, Mr Trump said he was filing the “powerhouse” suit on behalf of not only himself but all Americans who will “no longer tolerate the abusive wrongdoings” of the press.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
