President Trump sued The Wall Street Journal for defamation on Friday after the newspaper published a story detailing an alleged letter Trump sent to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday.
The 18-page complaint says the story has caused “overwhelming financial and reputational harm” for the president, demanding billions of dollars in damages.
“Defendants concocted this story to malign President Trump’s character and integrity and deceptively portray him in a false light,” the lawsuit states.
Trump threatened to sue the outlet in an interview ahead of publication, and he doubled down on the threat after the story was published Thursday evening.
According to the Journal, the 2003 letter allegedly includes several lines of text “framed by the outline of a naked woman.” It allegedly ends: “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
Trump denies writing the letter.
The suit names the two reporters, The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, News Corp and Rupert Murdoch, who controls the company, as defendants. It also names News Corp’s CEO, Robert Thomson.
It was filed in federal court in the Southern District of Florida’s Miami division.
The Hill has reached out to News Corp for comment.
“This lawsuit is filed not only on behalf of your favorite President, ME, but also in order to continue standing up for ALL Americans who will no longer tolerate the abusive wrongdoings of the Fake News Media,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“I hope Rupert and his ‘friends’ are looking forward to the many hours of depositions and testimonies they will have to provide in this case,” he continued.
The president also pointed to his past defamation suits against prominent media companies.
CBS earlier this month settled for $16 million the president’s lawsuit over a “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Harris last fall. Late last year, ABC settled a defamation lawsuit Trump filed over an anchor’s mischaracterization of a jury verdict finding the president liable for sexual abuse.
This story was updated at 7:41 p.m.
