President Donald Trump has filed a massive libel lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal, its parent company, and two of its reporters over what he calls a false and defamatory story linking him to Jeffrey Epstein.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court in Miami, seeks at least $20 billion in damages. It centers around a recent article claiming Trump once sent Epstein a letter for his 50th birthday that included an outline of a naked woman.
Trump says the story is a complete fabrication, CNN reported.
“There is no letter, no drawing, and no truth to this story,” the lawsuit states. Trump’s legal team blasted the Journal for what they call “glaring failures in journalistic ethics and standards of accurate reporting,” noting that the article didn’t actually publish the supposed letter or illustration, CNN added.
“The reason for those failures is because no authentic letter or drawing exists,” the lawsuit says.
The article, written by Journal reporters Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo, was published Thursday afternoon. Both journalists are named in the lawsuit, along with Dow Jones & Company, the Journal’s parent company under Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp empire.
Trump wasted no time responding following the publication of the story.
He said warned the Journal in advance not to publish what he called a “FAKE” letter and said Murdoch had personally promised to stop it. “The Wall Street Journal, and Rupert Murdoch, personally, were warned directly by President Donald J. Trump that the supposed letter they printed by President Trump to Epstein was a FAKE and, if they print it, they will be sued,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“But, obviously, [Murdoch] did not have the power to do so,” Trump added.
A spokesperson for Dow Jones issued a short response: “We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”
The legal action comes as Trump ramps up pressure on media companies he believes are working against him. In recent months, his administration has taken on major outlets like ABC, CBS, Meta, and X, with most agreeing to financial settlements to avoid drawn-out court battles. The Journal case, however, is shaping up to be a direct and highly public fight.
The president has promised transparency, and the administration has taken steps to unseal grand jury testimony. But the release of the Journal article — suggesting Trump sent a racy note to Epstein — was a step too far, according to the president’s legal team.
The 18-page filing accuses the Journal of knowingly pushing a false narrative for political reasons. Legal experts say it’s one of the most aggressive legal actions ever taken by a sitting president against the press.
“As far as I can tell, no sitting president has ever sued a reporter or media outlet or media executive for allegedly defaming him,” First Amendment attorney Ted Boutrous told CNN. “When you have the presidential bully pulpit, you simply don’t need to sue to get to the truth.”
Trump, however, has defied that norm. In 2024, he sued ABC News over anchor George Stephanopoulos’s repeated claim that Trump had been found guilty of rape in the E. Jean Carroll case, even though the jury found otherwise. Disney settled the case, agreeing to pay $16 million toward Trump’s future presidential library.
CBS, Meta, and X have also agreed to settlements in other defamation cases. Multiple lawsuits are still ongoing, and Trump has signaled more could be coming.
Trump’s long-past connection to Epstein has once again come under the spotlight in recent weeks as pressure mounts on the administration to release all available documents tied to the disgraced financier.
Earlier this month, Trump’s Justice Department said there is no evidence Epstein kept a “client list” or was murdered — a conclusion that divided some within Trump’s base and led to accusations of a cover-up.