Washington DC — U.S. President Donald Trump has filed a libel lawsuit seeking at least $20 billion against the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), its parent company, and two reporters over an article that linked him to Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday celebrations in 2003. The report alleged that Trump gifted Epstein a note and a drawing of a naked woman—claims the President has vehemently denied.
The article in question, authored by WSJ journalists Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo, did not publish the alleged note or drawing but claimed their existence. In an 18-page filing in a federal court in Miami, Trump’s legal team argued that the story was “false, malicious, defamatory,” and accused the publication of “glaring failures in journalistic ethics and standards of accurate reporting.”
“There is no authentic letter or drawing,” the lawsuit claims. Trump’s attorneys allege the report was part of a coordinated smear campaign and a prime example of what the President termed “Fake News.”
Taking to Truth Social shortly after filing, Trump announced, “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.” He also named Rupert Murdoch and WSJ CEO Robert Thomson among the top defendants.
Trump said the lawsuit is not just a personal battle but a broader move to “stand up for all Americans” against media outlets that “deal in lies and fraud.”
The lawsuit intensifies the ongoing conflict between Trump and major media houses, many of which he has targeted in the past, including ABC, CBS, and Pulitzer Prize committees. It also marks one of the largest personal libel claims in U.S. history.
The Wall Street Journal has yet to issue a public response.
