Donald Trump has taken his simmering feud with Rupert Murdoch to the courtroom, filing a lawsuit in Miami against the News Corp boss, The Wall Street Journal’s parent company, and two of its journalists over a story linking the US president to a “bawdy” note allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein.
The Journal’s piece, published Thursday, described a letter from 2003 bearing Trump’s name and included in one of Epstein’s birthday albums.
According to the WSJ, the letter featured several lines of typed text bordered by the outline of a naked woman, supposedly drawn with a thick marker, and signed “Donald”.
It also reportedly contained a cheeky line — “Enigmas never age” — and finished with, “A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
The Journal said messages from other notable names were also in the album.
Immediately after the article dropped, Trump denounced the note as “fake”.
He insisted, “These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures,” and followed with a pointed post on his Truth Social platform, writing: “I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his ‘pile of garbage’ newspaper, the WSJ. That will be an interesting experience!!!”
Trump and his legal team argue the article is “false, malicious, and defamatory,” and claim both Murdoch and the paper had been warned beforehand about publishing it. The suit targets Dow Jones, News Corp, Karen Safdar, and Joseph Palazzolo, the reporters byline on the original story.
This legal clash arrives while Trump is facing mounting scrutiny from his own supporters over the ongoing drip-feed of documents tied to Epstein, the late financier and convicted sex offender. In recent weeks, conservative media and some of Trump’s most loyal fans have accused the government of covering up records to protect the powerful. The pressure spiked after Attorney General Pam Bondi’s public promise to “reveal a lot of names” and “a lot of flight logs” fizzled without substance — Bondi admitted there was no existing “client list” after previously hinting at one.
Trump, keen to quell speculation, directed Bondi to seek court approval for the release of any “pertinent Grand Jury testimony” tied to Epstein, urging, “This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!”
Bondi soon after said on X the Justice Department was “ready to move the court tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts”.
The Department then formally asked a New York judge to unseal those documents, although under US law, grand jury records are nearly always confidential unless a judge approves their release, and parts would be redacted for privacy and security.
Reactions among Trump supporters have been mixed, with some — like California GOP sheriff and gubernatorial candidate Chad Bianco — openly venting frustration to the BBC: “We feel like we’re being talked down to like stupid children.”
Trump and Murdoch once enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship, with Fox News and News Corp outlets often credited for helping boost Trump’s rise to the White House. Their alliance faltered after Trump lost the 2020 election, with Murdoch reportedly telling colleagues, “We want to make Trump a non-person.”
The relationship thawed slightly after Trump’s 2024 victory, with the pair seen together at public events, but this lawsuit signals tensions are still live.
As legal teams get ready for what could be a drawn-out fight, the full complaint remains under wraps. News Corp and Dow Jones have yet to comment.
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