Trump Takes on Wall Street Journal Over Epstein Report
Donald Trump has unleashed another legal missile against the media, this time going after one of America’s most respected financial news outlets. On July 19, 2025, Trump filed a staggering $10 billion lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal, blasting their recent article that discussed an alleged birthday letter he sent to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died in federal custody in 2019. Trump’s team calls the story a distortion of facts, insisting that his ties to Epstein were never close, let alone chummy enough to warrant birthday greetings. The Wall Street Journal, for its part, stands by its reporting, but it’s now facing one of the highest-profile—and highest-dollar—defamation claims in recent memory.
Trump's lawyers argue that the WSJ article relied on unreliable sources and painted a misleading picture of the former president’s relationship with Epstein. The suit points to what it claims are "knowingly false" statements, especially the implication that Trump maintained a personal friendship with Epstein after the financier's criminal record became public. Trump, who has repeatedly tried to distance himself from Epstein, describes the Journal’s reporting as "politically motivated" and damaging to his reputation—especially at a time when he may be weighing another run for the White House. For Trump, pushing back hard on media narratives is nothing new, but the sheer scale of this lawsuit turns up the volume on his ongoing campaign against what he deems "fake news."
The Legal and Political Backdrop
This isn’t Trump’s first high-profile battle with the press. Over the years, he’s sued or threatened to sue outlets from CNN to The New York Times, often framing these fights as part of his crusade against misleading and biased reporting. While most of those lawsuits have either fizzled out or been settled quietly, the Trump lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal is different—if only for the eye-watering amount at stake and the cultural weight of the Journal within American media.
Some observers see the lawsuit as a tactic to keep his political opponents—and the press—in check. Others say it’s a way to shape public perception in an election cycle that’s expected to be just as combative as the previous ones. Meanwhile, legal experts point out that defamation suits brought by public figures like Trump are hard to win. American courts set a high bar: he must prove not just that the claims were false, but that the Journal acted with actual malice, knowingly publishing information they believed was untrue.
Details about the alleged birthday letter are still unclear. The Wall Street Journal article reportedly cited sources close to Epstein’s circle, who claimed the letter existed and suggested a more personal relationship than Trump admits. Trump’s camp calls this pure fiction, emphasizing he cut ties with Epstein long before the financier’s legal troubles exploded into public view. But this lawsuit isn’t just about a letter; it’s about controlling the narrative. For Trump, letting any allegation go unchallenged—especially when his name is connected to a figure as controversial as Epstein—is not an option, particularly as legal and political clouds linger over both his past and future ambitions.
The Journal hasn’t commented in detail, but media insiders are bracing for a court battle that could turn into a headline-grabbing fight over press freedom, libel, and the boundaries of investigative journalism. Whatever happens next, one thing’s clear: Trump isn’t backing down when his reputation is on the line, and the Wall Street Journal isn’t the sort of target to fold easily under pressure.