Trump seeks to proceed with $10B lawsuit over WSJ story on Epstein's birthday book

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: ABC News

October 21, 2025, 12:01 PM


Lawyers for President Donald Trump are asking a federal judge in Florida to deny a request by the Wall Street Journal and its parent companies, Dow Jones and News Corp, to dismiss a $10 billion defamation lawsuit over the paper's reporting on the bawdy letter allegedly penned by Trump that appeared in a birthday book for disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In a court filing late Monday, Trump's lawyers argued that the July article and surrounding coverage were a "deliberate smear campaign designed to damage President Trump's reputation" and subject the president to "public hatred and ridicule." They also requested oral arguments over the Journal's recent motion to dismiss.

"Defendants did not publish the Article on the front page of The Wall Street Journal based on a mere harmless joke between friends," Monday's filing said. "Indeed, such an assertion strains credulity beyond repair. The Article, and the surrounding media around it, were all a deliberate smear campaign designed to damage President Trump's reputation."

Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for aiding and participating in Epstein's trafficking of underage girls, told Justice Department officials in August that Epstein had asked her to coordinate contributions to his 2003 50th birthday book from friends and associates, but said she could not recall if Trump, then a private citizen, was among those who responded. Last month the House Oversight Committee released records from Epstein's estate that included a copy of a birthday book with the alleged letter from Trump that the newspaper had described.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-seeks-proceed-10b-lawsuit-wsj-story-epsteins/story?id=126717491

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