Trump sues Wall Street Journal for libel over Epstein letter
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President Trump in the Oval Office on July 14. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
President Trump sued the Wall Street Journal on Friday over a story describing a "bawdy" birthday letter bearing his name that the outlet says was given to Jeffrey Epstein, new court filing shows.
The big picture: Trump had threatened to sue a day earlier, saying he personally warned the WSJ and owner Rupert Murdoch "that the supposed letter" was "a FAKE."
- The White House did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
- Dow Jones, which owns WSJ, told Axios that they have "full confidence in the rigor and accuracy" of their reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit, according to a spokesperson.
Zoom in: In the 18-page filing, Trump's legal team slammed the WSJ report as "false, defamatory, unsubstantiated, and disparaging" and is seeking at least $20 billion for damage.
- "Defendants concocted this story to malign President Trump's character and integrity and deceptively portray him in a false light," the filing said.
Catch up quick: In his Thursday night Truth Social post, Trump wrote "Mr. Murdoch stated that he would take care of it but, obviously, did not have the power to do so."
- The letter, which the WSJ reports that it reviewed, was in an album that Ghislaine Maxwell put together in 2003 for Epstein's birthday, according to the outlet.
- The WSJ reported that Department of Justice officials reviewed pages from the album years ago, but that it wasn't clear if the DOJ under Trump looked at the documents for its report that concluded there's no evidence to suggest Epstein was killed or kept a "client list."
- Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence in Florida after being found guilty of sex trafficking and other charges in 2021.
Zoom out: It's the first lawsuit the president has filed against a media company while in office.
- The number of media and defamation lawsuits involving Trump or his businesses as either the plaintiff or defendant quadrupled since 2015, when he began his political career, compared to the prior three decades, according to an Axios analysis of public databases.
- Currently, the White House is still in a legal battle with the AP over barring its reporters from public spaces.
Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout.
