Controversy surrounding Donald Trump's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files has deepened, after the publication of a story about an alleged letter the US President wrote to the disgraced financier.
The Wall Street Journal late on Thursday published a bombshell article on the letter Mr Trump allegedly wrote to Epstein – who died in jail awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges – featuring a sketch of a nude woman and other sexually suggestive content.
The letter was part of an album of letters from friends the WSJ said had been collected for Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003.
The album was reportedly created by Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's long-time girlfriend who was jailed for sex trafficking in 2022.
The WSJ said the letter bore Mr Trump’s signature and ends with: “Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
The outlet did not publish a photo of the letter.
Mr Trump swiftly took to Truth Social and promised to sue the WSJ, calling the story “false, malicious, and defamatory”.
He also said he would take legal action against WSJ owner Rupert Murdoch and publisher News Corp.
“It’s a made up story. Not my words, not my form of speaking. Also, I don’t draw pictures,” he said.
He also suggested that the WSJ was “warned directly” by him that the letter was “fake” but published it anyway.
The alleged letter is the latest chapter of a scandal that has been increasingly difficult for the Trump administration to move past.
Epstein was arrested in 2019 on charges of solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of a child for prostitution. Witnesses and victims had previously revealed a pattern of abuse of minors – partially enabled by Maxwell – and said that powerful men had been involved in the abuse.
The disgraced financier died in prison awaiting trial in 2019. Officials ruled his death as a suicide, but it fuelled conspiracy theories, particularly in the Make America Great Again movement, that Epstein was murdered to conceal his wealthy and powerful friends implicated in his crimes.
Attorney General Pam Bondi had months ago pledged to release the now infamous Epstein “client list” and “a lot of flight logs”.
But last week, a Justice Department memo concluded that after an “exhaustive review” of materials related to Epstein, there was no secret client list and his death was indeed a suicide.
Mr Trump – whose administration includes officials who, as private citizens, helped to spread these conspiracy theories – lashed out at his own base, calling them “weaklings” and “stupid people” for continuing to question the narrative on Epstein.
In a rare rupture, his Maga supporters have turned on him, demanding the release of all the files.
The President directed Ms Bondi on Friday to unseal Epstein's grand jury transcripts.
Elon Musk, the billionaire former ally of Mr Trump, questioned the authenticity of the letter, saying it “didn’t really sound like something Trump would say tbh.”
But he also called for the full release of the Epstein material and joined some Maga loyalists in portraying the Trump administration as conspiring in a cover-up.
“Wow I can’t believe Epstein killed himself before realising it was all a hoax,” Mr Musk, who had a public rift with Mr Trump after he left the administration in May and soon after accused the President of being named in the files, said on X.
