Trump sues Wall Street Journal for $10b over Epstein

US President Donald Trump sued media magnate Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal for at least $10 billion on Friday over publication of a bombshell article on his friendship with the infamous alleged sex trafficker of underage girls, Jeffrey Epstein.

The defamation lawsuit, filed in federal court in Miami, saw the 79-year-old Republican hitting back at a scandal threatening to cause serious political damage.

"We have just filed a POWERHOUSE Lawsuit against everyone involved in publishing the false, malicious, defamatory, FAKE NEWS 'article' in the useless 'rag' that is, The Wall Street Journal," Trump posted on Truth Social late Friday.

The Journal reported on Thursday that in 2003, the then-real estate magnate wrote a suggestive birthday letter to Epstein, illustrated with a naked woman and alluding to a shared "secret."

The lawsuit, which also names two reporters, the Dow Jones corporation, and Murdoch's parent company News Corp. as defendants, claims that no such letter exists and that the paper intended to malign Trump with a story that has now been viewed by hundreds of millions of people.

"And given the timing of the Defendants' article, which shows their malicious intent behind it, the overwhelming financial and reputational harm suffered by President Trump will continue to multiply," it said.

Dow Jones, the Journal's longtime publisher, responded to Trump's libel suit Friday saying it is standing by the story.

"We have full confidence in the rigour and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit," a Dow Jones spokesperson said in a statement.

Alleged cover-up

In another bid to dampen outrage among his own supporters about an alleged government cover-up of Epstein's activities and 2019 death, Trump ordered US Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the unsealing of grand jury testimony from the prosecution against the disgraced financier.

In a filing in New York, Bondi cited "extensive public interest" for the unusual request to release what is typically secret testimony.

Epstein, a longtime friend of Trump and multiple high-profile men, was found hanging dead in a New York prison cell while awaiting trial on charges that he sexually exploited dozens of underage girls at his homes in New York and Florida.

The case sparked conspiracy theories, especially among Trump's far-right voters, about an alleged international cabal of wealthy pedophiles. When

Trump was close with Epstein for years, and the two were photographed and videoed together at parties, although there has never been evidence of wrongdoing.

The Journal reported that Trump had wished Epstein a happy 50th birthday in 2003 with a "bawdy" letter, part of an album of messages from rich and well-known figures.