Trump, Who Has Sold His Doodles in Past, Denies Report of Graphic Epstein Letter by Saying He 'Never Wrote a Picture in My Life'
The Wall Street Journal reportedly obtained a 2003 letter from Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein, which allegedly included a sketch of a naked woman and a cryptic note about making each day "another wonderful secret"
Trump slammed the WSJ's bombshell report about the letter as false, claiming, "I never wrote a picture in my life"
Internet sleuths quickly poked holes in the president's rebuttal by tracking down multiple doodles that Trump has sketched and signed over the yearsAlmost immediately after Donald Trump dismissed the latest allegation about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, internet sleuths identified a major flaw in his denial.
On Wednesday, July 17, The Wall Street Journal reported on a graphic letter that Trump allegedly gave Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003. While the newspaper didn't show a copy of the letter — which was reportedly part of a collection of well wishes that Ghislaine Maxwell assembled from friends of the billionaire — they described its contents as "bawdy."
"It contains several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker," WSJ claimed. "A pair of small arcs denotes the woman's breasts, and the future president's signature is a squiggly 'Donald' below her waist, mimicking pubic hair."
WSJ reported that Trump's birthday message also included an imagined conversation between Trump and Epstein. In the fictional exchange, Trump says, "We have certain things in common, Jeffrey." Epstein replies, "Yes, we do, come to think of it."
"Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?" Trump then asks Epstein, who answers, "As a matter of fact, it was clear to me the last time I saw you."
"The letter concludes: 'Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,' " WSJ claimed.
In an interview with WSJ, Trump denied writing the letter and threatened to sue them "just like I sued everyone else."
"This is not me. This is a fake thing. It's a fake Wall Street Journal story,' he told the outlet. "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.'
The internet quickly latched on to the president's claim that he "never wrote a picture in his life." Within minutes, critics began digging up a variety of well-documented Trump doodles.
Former Congressman Adam Kinzinger compiled several Trump sketches into a photo collage on X, with the caption, "Trump loves to draw. Just saying."
Others were found on auction sites, including a 2004 cityscape skyline that was listed and auctioned off at Sotheby's, a sketch of the Empire State Building that sold for $16,000 at Julien's Auctions, a 2005 rendition of the Manhattan skyline that went for $29,184 at Nate D. Sanders Auctions, and a drawing of a tree with money falling from it that sold for $8,500 at Leland Little.
All of the auctioned doodles appear to feature the president's distinctive signature.
Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Trump even admitted to his prolific scribbling prowess in his 2010 book, Trump Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges Into Success.
"Each year, I donate an autographed doodle to the Doodle for Hunger auction at Tavern on the Green," he wrote. "It's a great event."
Despite the counter-evidence was presented, Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., took to X to also try refuting the Wall Street Journal article.
"My father has a very specific way of speaking. People all over the world have mimicked it for decades. The insanity written in the Wall Street Journal AIN'T IT and everyone knows it," he wrote. "Also in 47 years I've never seen him doodle once. Give me a break with the fake 'journalisming.' "
California Rep. Eric Swalwell replied to Don Jr.'s post with Kinzinger's nine screenshots of Trump's reported doodles.
Read the original article on People
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fast Company
a few seconds ago
- Fast Company
RushTok is back. TikTok still can't get enough of sorority recruitment
The internet's favorite programming is back on: #RushTok season is officially upon us. If this is your first time tuning in, 'rush' is the informal name for the recruitment process in which college students in the U.S. vie for a spot in a Greek organization at their campus. On #RushTok, potential new members (PNMs) document their experience rushing different sororities, typically those affiliated with the National Panhellenic Conference. The phenomenon first went viral in 2021, thanks to the University of Alabama. The hashtag #BamaRush now has more than 1.3 million posts, setting the blueprint for how pledge week plays out on TikTok. Since then, #RushTok has evolved into a full-blown internet subculture, with more than 67 million posts at the time of writing. Across the world, people tune in for a behind-the-scenes look at the recruitment process. Current pledges are building excitement, while viral personalities return for their fourth and final year. RushTok has essentially become its own reality TV show (think Dance Moms or Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders but in bite-size content). Young women try to get into their dream sorority, and the internet comes along for the ride. 'Bama rush tok is my superbowl,' one TikTok user posted. 'Guys who are we rooting for?' another asked. With 2025 recruitment well underway, content ranges from simple OOTD videos to high-energy choreographed dances. Brands are swarming the comments to get in on the action (as are plenty of confused Europeans). Peripheral content ramps up during this time, too, including parodies that highlight the homogeneity of the content. One creator, DestineeMoreh, returns each year to break down the costs behind the flood of 'outfit of the day' posts on the For You Page. The phenomenon has even inspired its own Lifetime documentary, set to premiere later this month. A number of schools are involved, but ask anyone—Bama Rush is the main event. While major players are already warming up, recruitment events at the University of Alabama don't officially begin for a few more days. According to UA's Panhellenic Association, recruitment runs from August 9 through 17. If last year's content is anything to go by, it'll be over-the-top, chaotic, and very American.
CNN
2 minutes ago
- CNN
Eddie Palmieri, pioneering Latin jazz musician and first Latino to win a Grammy, dies at 88
Eddie Palmieri, the avant-garde musician who was one of the most innovative artists of rumba and Latin jazz, has died. He was 88. Fania Records announced Palmieri's death Wednesday evening. Palmieri's daughter Gabriela told The New York Times that her father died earlier that day at his home in New Jersey after 'an extended illness.' The pianist, composer and bandleader was the first Latino to win a Grammy Award and would win seven more over a career that spanned nearly 40 albums. Palmieri was born in New York's Spanish Harlem on December 15, 1936, at a time when music was seen as a way out of the ghetto. He began studying the piano at an early age, like his famous brother Charlie Palmieri, but at age 13, he began playing timbales in his uncle's orchestra, overcome with a desire for the drums. He eventually abandoned the instrument and went back to the playing piano. 'I'm a frustrated percussionist, so I take it out on the piano,' the musician once said in his website biography. His first Grammy win came in 1975 for the album 'The Sun of Latin Music,' and he kept releasing music into his 80s, performing through the coronavirus pandemic via livestreams. In a 2011 interview with The Associated Press, when asked if he had anything important left to do, he responded with his usual humility and good humor: 'Learning to play the piano well. … Being a piano player is one thing. Being a pianist is another.' Palmieri dabbled in tropical music as a pianist during the 1950s with the Eddie Forrester Orchestra. He later joined Johnny Seguí's band and Tito Rodríguez's before forming his own band in 1961, La Perfecta, alongside trombonist Barry Rogers and singer Ismael Quintana. La Perfecta was the first to feature a trombone section instead of trumpets, something rarely seen in Latin music. With its unique sound, the band quickly joined the ranks of Machito, Tito Rodríguez, and other Latin orchestras of the time. Palmieri produced several albums on the Alegre and Tico Records labels, including the 1971 classic 'Vámonos pa'l monte,' with his brother Charlie as guest organist. Charlie Palmieri died in 1988. Eddie's unconventional approach would surprise critics and fans again that year with the release of 'Harlem River Drive,' in which he fused Black and Latin styles to produce a sound that encompassed elements of salsa, funk, soul and jazz. Later, in 1974, he recorded 'The Sun of Latin Music' with a young Lalo Rodríguez. The album became the first Latin production to win a Grammy. The following year he recorded the album 'Eddie Palmieri & Friends in Concert, Live at the University of Puerto Rico,' considered by many fans to be a salsa gem. In the 1980s, he won two more Grammy Awards, for the albums 'Palo pa' rumba' (1984) and 'Solito' (1985). A few years later, he introduced the vocalist La India to the salsa world with the production 'Llegó La India vía Eddie Palmieri.' Palmieri released the album 'Masterpiece' in 2000, which teamed him with the legendary Tito Puente, who died that year. It was a hit with critics and won two Grammy Awards. The album was also chosen as the most outstanding production of the year by the National Foundation for Popular Culture of Puerto Rico. During his long career, he participated in concerts and recordings with the Fania All-Stars and Tico All-Stars, standing out as a composer, arranger, producer, and orchestra director. In 1988, the Smithsonian Institute recorded two of Palmieri's concerts for the catalog of the National Museum of American History in Washington. Yale University in 2002 awarded him the Chubb Fellowship Award, an award usually reserved for international heads of state, in recognition of his work in building communities through music. In 2005, he made his debut on National Public Radio as the host of the program 'Caliente,' which was carried by more than 160 radio stations nationwide. He worked with renowned musicians such as timbalero Nicky Marrero, bassist Israel 'Cachao' López, trumpeter Alfredo 'Chocolate' Armenteros, trombonist Lewis Khan, and Puerto Rican bassist Bobby Valentín. In 2010, Palmieri said he felt a bit lonely musically due to the deaths of many of the rumberos with whom he enjoyed playing with. As a musical ambassador, he brought salsa and Latin jazz to places as far afield as North Africa, Australia, Asia and Europe, among others.
Washington Post
2 minutes ago
- Washington Post
One woman set out to visit every museum in New York City. Here's what she's learned so far
Museums throughout New York City were just reopening in the wake of the COVID pandemic when Jane August launched what seemed like a straightforward plan: She would travel to every single museum in the city, producing a short video log of each one. She figured it would take three years at most.
