WSJ says Trump sent lewd birthday card to Jeffrey Epstein; president vows to sue

Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times on Jul 18, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

President Donald Trump sent a raunchy 50th birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein that included a sketch of a naked woman, her breasts and a squiggly “Donald” signature mimicking pubic hair, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The report comes as the president continues to battle the release of the Justice Department’s files on Epstein, the disgraced financier who died in prison.

The Journal reviewed copies of a collection of lewd letters that Ghislaine Maxwell gathered from Epstein’s friends and colleagues and compiled in a leather-bound album to mark his birthday in 2003.

The album is part of documents reviewed by the Justice Department during its initial investigation of Epstein and Maxwell, sources told the Journal. It’s unclear whether they are part of the Epstein records that Trump has recently reviewed.

The president denied writing the letter. When the Journal reached out to Trump for comment, he said: “This is a fake thing. It’s a fake Wall Street Journal story.”

Shortly after the report was published Thursday evening, Trump threatened to sue The Wall Street Journal and owner Rupert Murdoch.

“These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.“I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn’t print this Fake Story.”

The letter from Trump to Epstein includes a mock dialogue between them printed inside an outline of a naked woman. It concludes with a line that reads: “A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,” according to the Journal.

In addition to that letter, the Journal reported, the birthday album included a similar card written by former Victoria’s Secret Chief Executive Leslie Wexner as well as a letter from Epstein’s former attorney Alan Dershowitz.

A poll conducted by the Economist/YouGov this month found that 83% of Trump’s 2024 supporters want the government to release all material related to the Epstein case.

The disgraced financier died in a New York City prison in August 2019 while facing federal charges over a child sex trafficking conspiracy. In 2022, Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping her longtime companion sexually abuse girls.

Former Trump adviser and fundraiser Elon Musk has also criticized Trump for refusing to share the Epstein files.

“@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files,” Musk wrote in a since-deleted X post during his public falling-out with the president last month. “That is the real reason they have not been made public.”

Trump has faced calls to appoint a special prosecutor to review the potential release of Epstein documents.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated the president’s opposition to doing so during a Thursday briefing.

“The president would not recommend a special prosecutor in the Epstein case,” she said. “That’s how he feels.”

(Times Washington Bureau Chief Michael Wilner contributed to this report.)