Trump sues Murdoch for $10 billion over WSJ story on Epstein birthday letter
Key Takeaways
President Trump is under increasing pressure to have the Justice Department release files about the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Article Overview
Quick insights and key information
4 min read
Estimated completion
investment
Article classification
July 19, 2025
01:42 AM
CNBC
Original publisher
Market analysis reveals What's fascinating this is President Donald Trump sued Rupert Murdoch for libel after his Wall Street Journal published an article saying Trump sent Jeffrey Epstein a "bawdy" letter for Epstein's 50th birthday
The Journal reported that the letter, allegedly sent in 2003, was among documents included in evidence assembled by federal criminal investigators as part of their be of Epstein
Trump and Epstein had been friends, but fell out years before Epstein was arrested on charges of child sex trafficking in 2019
President Donald Trump leaves after signing the “GENIUS Act” into law during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House July 18, 2025 in Washington, DC, given current economic conditions
Moreover, Anna Moneymaker | Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump on Friday ed through on his threat to sue media mogul Rupert Murdoch after his Wall Street Journal published an article saying that Trump sent his then-friend Jeffrey Epstein a "bawdy" letter for Epstein's 50th birthday, given the current landscape
Furthermore, Trump, who angrily denies writing the letter, is seeking damages of no less than $10 billion in the lawsuit alleging defamation
Named as defendants in the suit in federal court in the Southern District of Florida are Murdoch, his company News Corp and its CEO Robert Thomson, the Journal's publisher, Dow Jones & Co. , and the two reporters who wrote the article published Thursday evening
A Dow Jones spokesperson sent the ing statement to CNBC: "We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit
Nevertheless, "The suit comes as Trump faces growing pressure to have the Justice Department release its investigative files Epstein, who killed himself in August 2019 after being arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges
Additionally, Moreover, The Journal's article said that the letter purportedly written by Trump to Epstein in 2003 was among documents reviewed by criminal investigators who ultimately built criminal cases against Epstein and his convicted curer, Ghislaine Maxwell, who reportedly solicited the letter from the president (something worth watching) (something worth watching)
Meanwhile, "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 wrote in a Truth Social post on Friday (this bears monitoring)
Former Executive Chairman of Fox Corp Rupert Murdoch listens as U
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on February 03, 2025 in Washington, DC
Anna Moneymaker | Getty ImagesThe suit says that, "Defendants Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo co-authored and published an article largely focused on President Trump that falsely claimed that he authored, drew, and signed a card to wish the late — and utterly disgraced — Jeffrey Epstein a happy fiftieth birthday
At the same time, ""To attempt and inextricably link President Trump to Epstein, Defendants Safdar and Palazzolo falsely claim that the salacious language of the letter is contained within a hand-drawn naked woman, which was created with a heavy marker," the suit alleges (an important development). "Worse, Defendants Safdar and Palazzolo falsely represent as fact that President Trump drew the naked woman's breasts and signed his name 'Donald' below her waist, 'mimicking pubic hair
On the other hand, ' ""Despite the glaring failures in journalistic ethics and standards of accurate reporting, Defendants Dow Jones and News Corp — at the direction of Defendants Murdoch and Thomson — published to the world the false, defamatory, and malignant statements authored by" the reporters, the suit says
On the other hand, Trump earlier Friday posted on Truth Social the accusation, saying, "I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his 'pile of garbage' newspaper, the WSJ
That will be an interesting experience (something worth watching).
Related Articles
More insights from FinancialBooklet