President Donald J. Trump reportedly took swift legal action Friday morning, suing The Wall Street Journal and its parent companies over what he alleges is a “defamatory and false” article suggesting he once penned a birthday letter to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that included a crude drawing.
Filed in the Southern District of Florida, the lawsuit targets Dow Jones & Company, News Corp., Rupert Murdoch, and two Journal reporters as defendants.
The legal move comes less than 24 hours after the newspaper published its explosive—and, according to Trump, entirely unsubstantiated—claim.
The Journal reported Thursday that Trump had allegedly sent Epstein a letter in 2003 featuring a sketch of a naked woman and his signature. Trump’s legal team, however, categorically denies the letter ever existed, asserting that the article is part of a broader campaign to damage Trump politically.
“This story is completely made up,” a senior Trump adviser said privately, citing concerns that the Journal never produced the actual letter and may have relied solely on hearsay. “There is no evidence, no documentation, and yet they printed it as fact. That’s not journalism. That’s defamation.”
Neither Dow Jones, News Corp., nor the Journal’s reporters have responded to requests for comment as of Friday afternoon. The lawsuit had not yet appeared on the court docket at the time of reporting, though Trump aides insisted it had been properly filed.
The decision to name Rupert Murdoch personally in the lawsuit reflects growing tensions between Trump and the Murdoch media empire, which includes The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, and the New York Post.
Though long considered a kingmaker in conservative media, Murdoch has faced increasing criticism from MAGA-aligned Republicans for what they perceive as a shift toward the political establishment.
The lawsuit marks a bold step by Trump to push back against what he views as a coordinated media campaign to tarnish his legacy and undercut his candidacy. It also signals that the president, far from retreating under scrutiny, is leaning into legal warfare as a strategy to expose what his allies call “deep state media collusion.”
Trump’s lawsuit may also open the door to broader questions about media accountability in the digital age. With the Murdoch press previously forced to settle a massive defamation suit with Dominion Voting Systems, critics have suggested that political attacks masquerading as reporting are becoming all too common.
For Trump and his base, the lawsuit is not only a fight for personal vindication—it’s a broader challenge to the media establishment they believe has spent years working to silence and smear the America First movement.
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