President Trump just dropped a $10 billion lawsuit on the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch. The filing hit federal court in Miami on July 18, 2025, and it’s not a bluff. Trump’s legal team is targeting Dow Jones, News Corp, and two WSJ reporters over a story published July 17 that claimed Trump sent Jeffrey Epstein a sexually suggestive birthday letter in 2003. The Journal described the letter as featuring a hand-drawn outline of a nude woman with Trump’s name signed below the waist. Trump says the letter is fake. He says he warned Murdoch and WSJ editor Emma Tucker before publication. They ran it anyway.
The lawsuit accuses the Journal of defamation, libel, and reckless disregard for the truth. Trump’s lawyers say the outlet failed to produce the letter, failed to verify authorship, and failed to explain how it was obtained. The suit claims the story caused “overwhelming financial and reputational harm.” Trump’s post on Truth Social called it a “POWERHOUSE Lawsuit” and promised depositions for everyone involved. He also said, “These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures.”
The Journal’s story coincided with a separate DOJ move. On the same day, Attorney General Pam Bondi filed a motion to unseal grand jury transcripts in the Epstein case. The timing wasn’t subtle. Trump’s base has been demanding transparency on Epstein’s files for months. The DOJ previously said Epstein had no client list and died by suicide. That memo triggered backlash, especially after Bondi had promised more disclosures earlier this year.
The lawsuit also names News Corp CEO Robert Thomson and reporters Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo. Trump’s team says the Journal amplified the story to its 20 million followers on X and placed it on the front page of its July 18 print edition. The suit claims the outlet “concocted” the story to damage Trump’s character and mislead the public. Trump says he never wrote the letter and never drew the image. He’s demanding $10 billion in damages.
This isn’t Trump’s first media fight. He previously sued ABC and CBS and reached multimillion-dollar settlements. Now Murdoch is in the crosshairs. Trump says he looks forward to putting Murdoch under oath. The case could take months, but the filing is real, the numbers are real, and the stakes are high.
Sources:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/president-trump-sues-wsj-publisher-002237704.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-lawsuit-wall-street-journal-jeffrey-epstein-birthday-letter/
