Trump’s Old Drawings Resurface as He Denies Epstein Birthday Letter
"Trump files $10 billion lawsuit over Wall Street Journal's Jeffrey Epstein report"
Malcolm Ferguson Fri, July 18, 2025 at 11:13 PM GMT+10
The Wall Street Journal on Thursday evening reported that President Trump sent a 50th birthday letter to infamous predator Jeffrey Epstein in 2003, containing a signed sketch of a naked woman and the ominous caption, “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.” Trump denied that the letter was actually him, on the grounds that he had “never wrote a picture” in his life.
“The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein. These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures,” Trump said on Truth Social Thursday night. “I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn’t print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I’m going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper. Thank you for your attention to this matter! DJT”
[Insert: Not only a lie, but consider the dark depth of his reflexive- defensive reaction to the Journal's article. Without a thought of the blatancy of the lie. Without the thought that lie would be sure to be exposed. Any emotionally healthy person would have had those thoughts, then not have told the lie. But Trump is unfit. Trump instinctively and impulsively blurted that stupid lie from the depth of his dirty, stinking, lying psych. Trump is unfit to be the president.
Or is he playing sick. Maybe he's thinking 'let 'em throw the 25th at me. I'll beat it, always do. Got the supremes and enough Americans will be even more for me, i'll be the victim of the year, let them impeach me again. People will rush to my defence, there will be much social unrest, destructive, some death probly. Might even be able to disrupt the midterms, Just tell the lie for that. Always got away with it before.
Would a person who took seriously any thoughts they had about that be a fit person? I'd guess Trump could take thoughts like that seriously.]
That is an outright lie. At least five of the president’s own sketches were auctioned off between 1995 and 2020, suggesting that he had an obvious affinity for drawing. In 2005, a very rudimentary drawing he did of the New York City skyline sold for $30,000. In 2006, another basic sketch was auctioned off, this time of the George Washington Bridge. In 2017, his sketch of the Empire State Building was auctioned off for $16,000. And in 2020, his “Money Tree” drawing sold for $8,500. The president has “wrote” many a picture, poking a gaping hole in his defense against the Journal’s reporting.
The Journal report also detailed a strange dialogue-style note Trump left in the birthday letter to Epstein, written in the third person.
“Voice Over: There must be more to life than having everything,” the note began.
Donald: Yes, there is, but I won’t tell you what it is.
Jeffrey: Nor will I, since I also know what it is.
Donald: We have certain things in common, Jeffrey.
Jeffrey: Yes, we do, come to think of it.
Donald: Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?
Jeffrey: As a matter of fact, it was clear to me the last time I saw you.
Donald: A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.
This all comes as the president desperately tries to make his base, and the mainstream, forget about Epstein and his deep ties to him. But the deeper he tries to bury it, the more that seems to come to the surface.
What does Donald Trump have to prove to win his WSJ lawsuit over ‘fake’ Epstein card?
Trump files $10 billion lawsuit over Wall Street Journal's Jeffrey Epstein report
Recap whatever, should be months now until the case continues, i guess.
Story by Isabel Keane • 2d • 5 min read
[VIDEO - a hoax. It's all a hoax. "...we had a tremendous week with the hoax." Guess who.]
President Donald Trump filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal after the newspaper published the president’s alleged birthday card to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – but what will he have to prove to win the case?
The lawsuit filed in Miami federal court on Friday names the paper’s owners, including right-wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch, as well as the paper's parent companies, Dow Jones and News Corp, and two Wall Street Journal reporters, claiming they defamed Trump.
Weeks after the White House attempted to dismiss the so-called Epstein files as a Democratic “hoax,” the Journal published Trump’s alleged 50th birthday card message to Epstein. The 2003 note was described as including a sexually suggestive drawing and a birthday wish that read: “may every day be another wonderful secret.”
But the lawsuit claims the paper “failed to show proof that President Trump authored or signed any such letter, and failed to explain how this purported letter was obtained.”
Trump’s handling of claims related to Epstein, the child sex predator who died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019, has drawn criticism even from his own MAGA base, as many Americans believe the US government is hiding information about Epstein’s associates.
According to experts, The Wall Street Journal could seek reciprocal discovery, and Trump would be forced to answer highly-publicized questions about his relationship with Epstein, and whether he was aware of his crimes.
Here’s what Trump would need to happen to win the lawsuit:
Prove the Journal was lying – or failed to properly fact-check their story
For Trump to win the $10 billion defamation suit, he would have to prove that The Wall Street Journal was lying, or did not fact-check their claims before publishing.
A spokesperson for Dow Jones defended the accuracy of the reporting and their fact-checking of its claims.
“We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
News Corp did not immediately return The Independent’s request for comment.
The Wall Street Journal defended its reporting in a statement.
“The provenance of the ‘card’ appears suspect, but, even so, is it defamatory that one millionaire sent a birthday card to another in 2003 before Epstein was discovered?” Dunn said, noting the card was allegedly written years before Epstein was convicted of sex crimes.
Former federal prosecutor Chris Mattei said the lawsuit may allow the Journal to seek reciprocal discovery – meaning it can ask Trump to provide additional information or evidence that he did not write the letter, as well as details about his relationship with Epstein and whether he was aware of his crimes.
"If Trump's defense is that this was false, then any evidence suggesting that he had a relationship with Epstein, the degree to which that relationship was close or not, would be relevant to the question of whether or not it's likely Trump had any sort of role in this letter," Mattei said. "And so an aggressive Wall Street Journal here would seek broad discovery about the extent of Trump's relationship with Epstein."
Mattei said he felt Trump’s case was unlikely to have merit, and likely stood as a test to “explore what kind of power and leverage he has over the American media.”
"There will be some period of weeks where The Wall Street Journal will be able to file its motion to dismiss if it wants to make a request for discovery, the judgment rule on that request could take a little bit more time," Mattei said. "And so if it is indeed contested, you could see the initial phase of this, including discovery, playing out over the next six months."
What Trump is claiming in the lawsuit
Despite the Journal’s defense of its reporting, Trump still claims the Murdoch-owned paper exhibited “glaring failures in journalistic ethics and standards of accurate reporting.”
The story detailed a gift Trump allegedly gave Epstein for his 50th birthday that included a signed note from Trump inside a drawing of a naked woman. The note apparently included the disturbing phrase, “may every day be another wonderful secret,” according to the report.
The filing, however, notes that the Journal did not publish the drawing or the letter that it alleges Trump wrote.
Trump’s lawsuit is seeking $10 billion in damages. (Getty Images)
Trump denied writing the letter, going so far as to claim he has never drawn a picture in his life.
“I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women,” he said, according to the Journal. “It’s not my language. It’s not my words.”
The Wall Street Journal, however, later fired back in another story, highlighting several images drawn by Trump, including four that were auctioned off during his first term in office.
Trump threatened legal action against the paper, and the two journalists whose bylines appear on the report, Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo, were almost immediately targeted by CNN, the report stated.
The president also took to his Truth Social platform to air his grievances about the story.
“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.
Trump also claimed that Murdoch did not want to print the letter, but he “did not have the power to do so,” prompting Trump to file the suit.
Trump claimed Rupert Murdoch did not want to publish the letter, but had to anyway, forcing him to file the lawsuit. (AFP via Getty Images)
After the article was published, Trump said he directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to “produce any and all pertinent grand jury testimony subject to Court approval.” On Friday, the Justice Department sought court approval for that public release.
Federal prosecutors in 2019 charged Epstein with sex trafficking underage girls in both Florida and New York. He died by suicide in jail while awaiting trial.
Trump has threatened other media outlets over coverage
The president has regularly threatened to take legal action against media outlets over unflattering or antagonistic coverage.
His lawsuits against ABC and CBS resulted in controversial settlements that have sparked fears among press freedom advocates that publishers are only emboldening the president’s chilling message to the media.
Now Murdoch, who also owns The New York Post and The Sun, once a close ally, has found himself in the same boat.
Murdoch’s Fox News empire was accused of promoting bogus conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 election to promote Trump’s campaign.
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