U.S. President Donald Trump has filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, The Wall Street Journal, and its parent company News Corp. over a bombshell article linking him to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier accused of trafficking underage girls.
Filed in federal court in Miami on Friday, the lawsuit claims that the Journal knowingly published a “false, malicious, defamatory” story suggesting Trump shared a sexually suggestive relationship with Epstein. The article, published Thursday, alleged that Trump in 2003 wrote Epstein a birthday letter featuring a drawing of a naked woman, with his signature stylized as pubic hair and a message reading, “Happy Birthday, and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
Trump, 79, immediately denied the report and launched a legal counterattack, declaring on his Truth Social platform: “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.”
The suit also names two reporters, Dow Jones (the Journal’s publisher), and News Corp. as co-defendants. Trump’s lawyers argue that no such letter exists and accuse the publication of deliberately damaging his reputation ahead of critical political moments.
In response, a spokesperson for Dow Jones defended the article, saying, “We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”
Meanwhile, in a parallel move, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, acting on Trump’s orders, filed a motion in New York to unseal grand jury testimony from Epstein’s prosecution, citing “extensive public interest.” Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial, with officials ruling his death a suicide, a conclusion that has fueled persistent conspiracy theories, particularly among Trump’s far-right supporters.
The controversy threatens to fracture Trump’s “Make America Great Again” base, especially after Attorney General Bondi recently issued a memo confirming there is no known “Epstein client list,” despite years of speculation.
Whether the court will permit the unsealing of the secret testimony remains uncertain, as does the potential legal success of Trump’s high-stakes libel case.
Written By Rodney Mbua
