Trump sues Wall Street Journal over Epstein report, seeks $10 billion

U.S. President Donald Trump sued the Wall Street Journal and its owners, including Rupert Murdoch, for at least $10 billion on Friday, over the newspaper's report that his name was on a 2003 birthday greeting for Jeffrey Epstein that included a sexually suggestive drawing and a reference to secrets they shared.

The lawsuit filed in Miami federal court names Murdoch, Dow Jones, News Corp (NWSA.O), and its Chief Executive, Robert Thomson, as well as two Wall Street Journal reporters, alleging that they defamed Trump and caused him to suffer "overwhelming" financial and reputational harm.

Trump has said he parted ways with Epstein before the financier's legal troubles became public in 2006.

The president has vehemently denied the Journal report, which Reuters has not verified, and had warned Murdoch that he planned to sue. Dow Jones, the parent of the newspaper, is a division of News Corp.

"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 wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Reuters