US President Donald Trump has sued The Wall Street Journal and its owner, the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, for defamation. The lawsuit seeks at least $10 billion in damages for the publication of a bombshell report about the president’s friendship with notorious high-society sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump filed the lawsuit in the Southern District of Florida federal court on Friday to stop the Epstein case scandal from getting worse and causing him political damage.
In order to access the grand jury transcripts in the Epstein case and those of his former associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was found guilty of five federal charges in 2021 for her involvement in Epstein’s sexual abuse of minor girls, Trump also directed the US Justice Department to file a motion in Manhattan federal court.
Trump alleged in the defamation suit that Dow Jones, News Corp, Murdoch, and two WSJ writers acted maliciously and seriously damaged his reputation and finances. The newspaper’s parent company, Dow Jones, is a part of News Corp.
“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 wrote on his Truth Social account before filing the lawsuit.
Murdoch, News Corp, and Dow Jones representatives have not yet commented on the lawsuit.
Trump previously regarded Epstein as a friend, and the scandal surrounding the sex-offender who died by suicide in prison has sparked conspiracy theories, particularly among the US president’s far-right supporters.
When US Attorney General Pam Bondi last week reversed the president’s election campaign promise to make court documents public that some felt held incriminating information about Epstein and his purportedly wealthy clients, Trump supporters were furious.
Trump had denied writing a risqué birthday greeting for Epstein.
The WSJ reported on Thursday that Epstein received a signed letter from Trump for his 50th birthday.
In 2019, Epstein died by suicide in a jail in New York. Some members of Trump’s base of followers do not think Epstein died by suicide, and many think the government is hiding his connections to the wealthy and influential.
According to a July 7 Justice Department memo, Epstein died by suicide and there was “no incriminating client list” or proof that he had blackmailed famous people.
But before changing her mind, Bondi had promised months earlier to make significant disclosures concerning Epstein, including “a lot of names” and “a lot of flight logs.” Bondi’s Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Friday that the Justice Department has asked the court to unseal the Epstein case transcripts due to the public’s interest in it.
Trump, who was frequently photographed in social settings with Epstein during the 1990s and early 2000s, informed reporters in 2019 that he severed ties with Epstein prior to his legal troubles became public.