U.S. President Donald Trump leaves after signing the “GENIUS Act” into regulation throughout a ceremony within the East Room of the White Home July 18, 2025 in Washington, DC.
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President Donald Trump on Friday adopted by way of on his menace to sue media mogul Rupert Murdoch after his Wall Road Journal printed an article saying that Trump despatched his then-friend Jeffrey Epstein a “bawdy” letter for Epstein’s fiftieth birthday.
Trump, who angrily denies writing the letter, is in search of damages of a minimum of $10 billion within the lawsuit alleging defamation.
Named as defendants within the go well with in federal court docket within the Southern District of Florida are Murdoch, his firm Information Corp and its CEO Robert Thomson, the Journal’s writer, Dow Jones & Co., and the 2 reporters who wrote the article printed Thursday night.
A Dow Jones spokesperson despatched the next assertion to CNBC: “We’ve full confidence within the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and can vigorously defend towards any lawsuit.”
The go well with comes as Trump faces rising strain to have the Justice Division launch its investigative recordsdata about Epstein, who killed himself in August 2019 after being arrested on federal youngster intercourse trafficking fees.
The Journal’s article mentioned that the letter purportedly written by Trump to Epstein in 2003 was amongst paperwork reviewed by legal investigators who in the end constructed legal instances towards Epstein and his convicted procurer, Ghislaine Maxwell, who reportedly solicited the letter from the president.
“We’ve simply filed a POWERHOUSE Lawsuit towards everybody concerned in publishing the false, malicious, defamatory, FAKE NEWS “article” within the ineffective “rag” that’s, The Wall Road Journal,” Trump wrote in a Reality Social submit on Friday.
Former Govt Chairman of Fox Corp Rupert Murdoch listens as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters within the Oval Workplace of the White Home on February 03, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Pictures
The go well with says that, “Defendants Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo co-authored and printed an article largely targeted on President Trump that falsely claimed that he authored, drew, and signed a card to want the late — and completely disgraced — Jeffrey Epstein a contented fiftieth birthday.”
“To try and inextricably hyperlink President Trump to Epstein, Defendants Safdar and Palazzolo falsely declare that the salacious language of the letter is contained inside a hand-drawn bare lady, which was created with a heavy marker,” the go well with alleges.
“Worse, Defendants Safdar and Palazzolo falsely signify as undeniable fact that President Trump drew the bare lady’s breasts and signed his title ‘Donald’ under her waist, ‘mimicking pubic hair.’ “
“Regardless of the evident failures in journalistic ethics and requirements of correct reporting, Defendants Dow Jones and Information Corp — on the course of Defendants Murdoch and Thomson — printed to the world the false, defamatory, and malignant statements authored by” the reporters, the go well with says.
Trump earlier Friday posted on Reality Social in regards to the accusation, saying, “I stay up for getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit towards him and his ‘pile of rubbish’ newspaper, the WSJ. That might be an attention-grabbing expertise!!!”
