Trump files libel lawsuit over Wall Street Journal report

By Michael Williams, Dan Berman and Brian Stelter, July 19: U.S. President Donald Trump filed a libel lawsuit against the publisher of the Wall Street Journal and reporters who wrote a story about a collection of letters gifted to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003, including a note bearing Trump’s name and an outline of a naked woman.

The lawsuit, which seeks at least $20 billion, is an extraordinary escalation of Trump’s ongoing legal campaign against media companies he views as opponents. Trump denied that he had written the note.

In the 18-page filing, Trump’s legal team accuses the Journal’s parent company of engaging in “glaring failures in journalistic ethics and standards of accurate reporting.” The filing notes that the Journal, in its story, did not publish the drawing or the letter that its reporters allege Trump authored.

“The reason for those failures is that no authentic letter or drawing exists,” Trump’s lawyer wrote in the lawsuit, which was filed in a federal court in Miami.

Trump had threatened to sue almost immediately after the story, which was written by Journal reporters Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo, was published late Thursday afternoon. Both reporters are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

“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,” the president said in a Truth Social post.

The president added in that post that Murdoch, the owner of News Corp, the Journal’s parent company, “stated that he would take care of it.”

“But, obviously, did not have the power to do so,” Trump added.

A spokesperson for Dow Jones, the Journal’s parent company, said in a statement: “We have full confidence in the rigour and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”

The president’s relationship with Epstein, the late convicted sex offender who died in a New York City jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges, has come under increased scrutiny in recent weeks.

Trump said during his 2024 campaign that he would consider releasing additional files on Epstein, vowing to fulfil the demands of influential right-wing figures who have long pushed for increased governmental transparency around the case and publicly cast doubt on whether his death was a suicide, as was ruled by multiple official investigations.

A memo released by his Justice Department earlier this month claimed there is no evidence that Epstein, who rubbed shoulders with some of the most influential men in politics and business during the late 20th century, maintained a “client list” that named or implicated these men in alleged sex crimes.

That revelation has disappointed some of the president’s most loyal followers and was the catalyst for a split that threatened to fracture his MAGA coalition.

Trump has had a hot-and-cold professional relationship with Murdoch that has spanned decades. Murdoch’s company also owns Fox News, the most-watched and most prominent Trump-friendly cable news network, which also employs the president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump.

Trump’s latest media battle

Legal experts consulted by CNN said they could not recall any past instances of a sitting president suing a news outlet over a story.

“As far as I can tell, no sitting president has ever sued a reporter or media outlet or media executive for allegedly defaming him,” First Amendment attorney Ted Boutrous told CNN. “When you have the presidential bully pulpit, you simply don’t need to sue to get to the truth.”

Trump filed several suits in 2024 while he was running for reelection. In March of that year, he sued ABC, claiming George Stephanopoulos and ABC News defamed him when the anchor repeatedly said on air that a jury found Trump had “raped” E. Jean Carroll.

A jury found that Trump had sexually abused Carroll and held him liable for battery, but the jury did not find that she proved he had raped her. (Trump has denied all wrongdoing toward Carroll.) ABC’s parent company, Disney, settled with Trump and agreed to pay $16 million toward his future presidential library, setting a precedent of sorts for other settlement deals.

Just two weeks ago, Trump agreed to drop his October 2024 lawsuit against CBS News over a segment on “60 Minutes” during the closing stretch of the campaign. Paramount said it would pay $16 million for the library.

Meta and X have also settled with Trump over lawsuits that predated his second term in office. At least three other cases against media and tech companies are still pending.

University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias told CNN that Trump’s challenge to the Journal goes hand in hand with the recent settlements and the rescission package targeting public broadcasting.

In each case, “his attacks on the media undermine the First Amendment by making the media and others more cautious in covering Trump, his administration and other federal and state politicians,” Tobias said.

Moments after the lawsuit was filed, Trump said in a post to Truth Social that he looked forward to Murdoch having to answer questions under oath.

“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,” the president said.