Team Trump Was on ‘F-cking Warpath’ to Kill Story About Salacious Letter to Epstein
Donald Trump wrote a birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein in the early 2000s in which the future president, addressing the future convicted sex offender, noted that “we have certain things in common.” The existence of the letter was reported today by The Wall Street Journal, which obtained documents pertaining to a 2003 album put together for Epstein’s 50th birthday by his partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, also now a convicted sex offender.
The Journal notes that the letter bearing Trump’s name was outlined by a drawing of a naked woman, and that the woman appeared to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker. Trump’s signature, as “Donald,” appears below the woman’s waist.
It’s unclear how the text of the letter, which was typewritten, was prepared, according to the Journal. Here is what the outlet reports was inside of the outline of the naked woman:
Voiceover: There must be more to life than having everything.
Donald: Yes, there is, but I won’t tell you what it is.
Jeffrey: Nor will I, since I also know what it is.
Donald: We have certain things in common, Jeffrey.
Jeffrey: Yes, we do, come to think of it.
Donald: Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?
Jeffrey: As a matter of fact, it was clear to me the last time I saw you.
Trump: A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.
Trump denied he wrote the letter. “This is not me. This is a fake thing. It’s a fake Wall Street Journal story,” he told the outlet earlier this week. “I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women. It’s not my language. It’s not my words.”
Trump said he would sue the Journal if they published a story on the letter. “I’m gonna sue The Wall Street Journal just like I sued everyone else,” the president said.
Trump wrote on Truth Social today shortly after the story went live that he warned the Journal and “Rupert Murdoch, personally” about running the story, and that he “will be suing The Wall Street Journal, NewsCorp, and Mr. Murdoch.” The president called the story “false, malicious, and defamatory” and described the Journal as a “Disgusting and Filthy Rag.”
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Vice President J.D. Vance sprang to Trump’s defense tonight. “Forgive my language but this story is complete and utter bullshit. The WSJ should be ashamed for publishing it,” Vice President J.D. Vance wrote on X. “Where is this letter? Would you be shocked to learn they never showed it to us before publishing it? Does anyone honestly believe this sounds like Donald Trump?” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt alleged that the Journal “knowingly published false information to smear the President of the United States” and that the story is part of a “coordinated Hoax by the Democrats and Fake News to smear President Trump.”
Rolling Stone reported Wednesday on how the Trump administration has hurled a substantial amount of time and resources toward a multipronged effort to contain the backlash — both within government and among right-wing influencers — to the Justice Department’s decision earlier this month to effectively bury the administration’s inquiry into the convicted sex offender, who died in prison in 2019, and his potential ties to powerful figures.
Some of this effort, multiple sources in and close to the White House have been telling Rolling Stone this week, has included a days-long mission — led by an incensed president — to try to kill the Journal report on the letter to Epstein, which has now seen the light of day.
One administration official describes the White House as having been “on a fucking warpath” in its pressure campaign against the conservative newspaper, working different contacts and angles in an attempt to get the outlet to drop the story. This official notes this was rated a top “priority” by Trump and dominated various conversations within the West Wing and elsewhere this week.
In the end, the Journal — which is controlled by the Murdoch family, who run Fox News — did not allow Trump’s maximum pressure campaign to work. Asked about the president’s legal threat, a source familiar with the matter would only say: “The president is in touch with outside counsel.”
Multiple Trump advisers and others in the president’s political orbit concede that the president’s sustained endeavor to snuff out the story has only made it seem more important. “It’s been weighing on him,” another administration source says. “The president wanted multiple options, legal too, explored for what he could do to stop or hit back against the story.”
Trump’s long history with Epstein has been under renewed scrutiny following the Justice Department’s Epstein memo. The pair have been photographed together plenty, and they were shot on video partying together in the 1990s. “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Trump told New York magazine in 2002. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”
The Justice Department’s decision to end its investigation has been met with widespread backlash, most notably from MAGA influencers. Trump has responded by claiming repeatedly that former President Barack Obama and other Democrats fabricated the Epstein files, while attacking his supporters for being duped by what the president is now calling a “hoax.”
The Journal notes in its report on the letter that Trump told reporters on Tuesday that Obama and others “made up” the Epstein files after speaking to the outlet about its report on the letter to Epstein earlier in the day.