Trump Sues Murdoch, Wall Street Journal Over Explosive Epstein Sex Allegations

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against media mogul Rupert Murdoch, The Wall Street Journal, and its parent company News Corp, over a damning article linking him more closely to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in a federal court in Miami, also targets two Journal reporters and the Dow Jones company, claiming that a recently published story about a suggestive letter Trump allegedly sent Epstein in 2003 is entirely fabricated.

“We have just filed a POWERHOUSE Lawsuit against everyone involved in publishing the false, malicious, defamatory, FAKE NEWS ‘article’ in the useless ‘rag’ that is, The Wall Street Journal,” Trump declared in a post on Truth Social late Friday.

The WSJ report, published Thursday, alleged that Trump—then a real estate tycoon—had sent Epstein a “bawdy” birthday letter that included a drawing of a naked woman and a cryptic note referencing a shared secret. The lawsuit asserts no such letter exists and accuses the paper of deliberately defaming Trump to inflict political and reputational harm.

The suit points to the article’s timing and wide reach, claiming it “was published with actual malice” and has been viewed by “hundreds of millions of people.” The Trump legal team argues that the alleged damage to his reputation is ongoing and severe.

Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, stood by the report. “We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit,” a spokesperson said.

In a separate move aimed at quelling unrest within his conservative base, Trump directed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to petition for the unsealing of grand jury testimony from Epstein’s prosecution. The rare request was filed in New York, citing overwhelming public interest. Grand jury proceedings are typically kept sealed.

The Epstein case has long fueled conspiracy theories, particularly among Trump’s supporters, about a global elite involved in sex trafficking. Epstein, who was awaiting trial on charges of abusing underage girls at the time of his death in 2019, was found hanged in his Manhattan jail cell in what was officially ruled a suicide.

While Trump had been publicly linked to Epstein for years—with multiple photos and videos showing them together at social events—there has been no proof implicating Trump in Epstein’s alleged crimes.

Still, the WSJ’s report struck a nerve because of its implication of sexual undertones and a “shared secret” between the two. According to the article, Trump’s letter was part of a birthday album compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday, and featured a drawing that resembled a woman’s body, signed in a way that mimicked pubic hair.

Trump angrily denied the claims. “It’s not my language. It’s not my words. I never wrote a picture in my life,” he posted online. However, U.S. media outlets have previously published several drawings by Trump—some from the early 2000s—donated to charity auctions.

Despite Trump’s efforts to control the narrative, his MAGA base has expressed growing frustration over what they perceive as government secrecy surrounding Epstein’s clients and alleged co-conspirators. Bondi recently dismissed the idea of an “Epstein client list” in an official memo, further stirring anger within Trump’s core supporters.

Whether the court will agree to unseal the grand jury records remains uncertain. Even if released, legal experts caution the documents may not answer lingering questions about Epstein’s network or confirm the existence of a client list.

Pressed by reporters Friday on whether he would pursue broader disclosure of Epstein-related material, Trump declined to respond.