
$10 billion lawsuit. More documents coming. Here's the latest on Trump and Epstein.
In a lawsuit filed July 18, Trump is seeking $10 billion in damages over the Wall Street Journal's publication of an article saying the future president wrote a lewd letter to Epstein for his 50th birthday.
"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 social media.
He filed the lawsuit the day after directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce more Epstein documents amid public clamor for the records - a fascination Trump said he doesn't understand about what he called a 'pretty boring' case.
And on July 19, Trump doubted the upcoming records release will satisfy his critics.
"It will always be more, more, more," Trump said on social media.
Here's what to know about the latest developments in Trump's dealings with the continued interest in the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender who died in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
What does Trump want?
Trump wants $10 billion in damages from the Wall Street Journal, its parent company, owner and two reporters claiming libel and slander.
A $10 billion award would far exceed the largest defamation judgments and settlements in recent history, according to Reuters.
More: Trump sues WSJ, Rupert Murdoch and two reporters for Epstein letter story
To win, Trump has to prove the Wall Street Journal acted with 'actual malice,' a standard set by the Supreme Court in 1964.
The court in March declined an appeal from top Republican donor and former casino magnate Steve Wynn asking the court to overturn that ruling.
What did the Wall Street Journal report?
At issue is a story published July 17 describing a letter from Trump that the Journal wrote was part of a leather-bound birthday book with dozens of other letters that was presented to Epstein in 2003. Trump's letter ends with 'Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,' according to the report.
Trump's signature on the letter, which was written in the form of text inside a hand-drawn outline of a nude woman, is "a squiggly 'Donald' below her waist, mimicking pubic hair,' according to the Journal.
How has the Wall Street Journal responded to Trump's lawsuit?
A Dow Jones spokesperson said July 18 that the Wall Street Journal stands by its story. "We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit," the spokesperson said.
More: Trump's team promised transparency on Epstein. Here's what they delivered.
What new Epstein files does Trump want released?
After Trump on July 17 directed Bondi to produce more Epstein documents, federal prosecutors followed up with a motion filed July 18 in federal court in Manhattan seeking to unseal grand jury transcripts in the criminal cases against Epstein and his former associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
'Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval,' Trump wrote on social media.
More: At Trump's request, Justice Department asks court to release Epstein grand jury records
Epstein's federal sex-trafficking case was still pending when he was found dead in a jail cell in 2019.
It was a partial about-face for Trump, after his Justice Department released a memo July 7 saying no further Epstein disclosure was warranted. But it's not clear what portion of the government's Epstein files are taken up by that testimony.
When will the new information become public?
It could take time for the courts to release any records, and the grand jury documents are just a portion of the unreleased files.
'What about videos, photographs and other recordings?' Democratic Rep. Daniel Goldman, a former prosecutor, wrote on social media in response to Bondi saying she'd seek the release of grand jury testimony. 'What about FBI… (witness interviews)? What about texts and emails?'
Meanwhile, Congress also is considering another, non-binding, resolution calling for the release of Epstein records. The House Rules Committee advanced the resolution July 17 on a party-line vote. Democrats opposed the measure because it is non-binding.
What Epstein information was previously released?
Trump previously accused the Biden administration of hiding a list of Epstein clients.
he Department of Justice teased that more files would be coming out, but then on July 7, Bondi said there was no client list and no further disclosure was needed.
More: Jeffrey Epstein had no 'client list,' died by suicide, DOJ and FBI conclude
That led to a wave of backlash from Trump's MAGA base.
More: Trump bows to Epstein critics clamoring for more records. Will it calm MAGA's fury?
What was Trump's reletionship with Epstein?
Trump's association with Epstein, whom he knew socially, has dogged him since his first term in office. In 2019, Trump said he'd had a 'falling out' with Epstein, whom he described as a 'Palm Beach fixture,' in the mid-2000s.
Trump hasn't explained why, but a 2019 Washington Post story describes a power struggle the two men had that year over an oceanfront Palm Beach mansion.
In 2022, Trump called Epstein a "terrific guy."
'He's a lot of fun to be with," Trump told New York magazine. "It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side."
Is Trump in the Epstein files?
Trump has already appeared in legal documents concerning Epstein's crimes, but never in a way that implicates him.
In the 1990s, Trump rode on aircraft owned by Epstein, according to flight logs released in two lawsuits. But that was 30-plus years ago.
In Palm Beach County state attorney documents, an image of a message pad communication seized in a Palm Beach police search appeared, but there is nothing more than Trump's name and a phone number.
Contributing: Aysha Bagchi, Joey Garrison, Zac Anderson, Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, Kinsey Crowly, Holly Baltz.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump's AI Action Plan aims to block chip exports to China but lacks key details
The Trump administration wants its AI technology to be considered an industry leader both on home soil and abroad. But it also doesn't want the U.S.'s AI prowess to empower or embolden a foreign adversary. That's quite the balance to strike. If President Trump's AI Action Plan, which was released on Wednesday, is any indicator, the administration seems to still be figuring out the right course of action to achieve those goals. 'America currently is the global leader on data center construction, computing hardware performance, and models,' the plan stated. 'It is imperative that the United States leverage this advantage into an enduring global alliance, while preventing our adversaries from free-riding on our innovation and investment.' The plan mentions strengthening AI chip export controls through 'creative approaches' followed by a pair of policy recommendations. The first calls on government organizations, including the Department of Commerce and National Security Council, to work with the AI industry on chip location verification features. The second is a recommendation to establish an effort to figure out enforcement for potential chip export restrictions; notably, it mentions that while the U.S. and allies impose export controls on major systems required for chip manufacturing, there isn't a focus on many of the component sub-systems — a hint at where the administration wants the DOC to direct its attention. The AI Action plan also talks about how the U.S. will need to find alignment in this area with its global allies. 'America must impose strong export controls on sensitive technologies,' the plan states. 'We should encourage partners and allies to follow U.S. controls, and not backfill. If they do, America should use tools such as the Foreign Direct Product Rule and secondary tariffs to achieve greater international alignment.' The AI Action plan never gets into detail on exactly how it will achieve Al global alliances, coordinate with allies on export chip restrictions, or work with U.S.-based AI companies on chip location verification features. Instead, the AI Action plans lay out what foundational building blocks are required for future sustainable AI chip export guidelines, as opposed to policies implemented on top of existing guidelines. The upshot: chip export restrictions are going to take more time. And there's ample evidence, beyond the AP Action plan, to suggest it will. For instance, the Trump administration has contradicted itself multiple times on its export restriction strategy in the past few months — including just last week. In July, the administration gave semiconductor firms, like Nvidia and AMD, the green light to start selling AI chips they had developed for China, just months after rolling out licensing restrictions on the same AI chips that effectively pulled Nvidia out of the Chinese market. The administration also formally rescinded the Biden administration's AI Diffusion Rule in May, just days before it was supposed to go into effect. The AI Diffusion rule put a cap on how much AI computing capacity some countries were allowed to buy. The Trump administration is expected to sign multiple executive orders July 23. Whether these will contain detailed plans on how it will reach its goals is unclear. While the AI Action Plan talks at length about figuring out how to expand the U.S. AI market globally, while maintaining dominance, it's light on the specifics. Any executive order regarding chip export restrictions will likely be about getting the proper government departments together to figure out a path forward, as opposed to formal guidelines, quite yet. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
3 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump administration canceled a $4.9B loan guarantee for a line to deliver green power
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Trump administration on Wednesday canceled a $4.9 billion federal loan guarantee for a new high-voltage transmission line for delivering solar and wind-generated electricity from the Midwest to the eastern U.S. The U.S. Department of Energy declared that it is "not critical for the federal government to have a role' in the first phase of Chicago-based Invenergy's planned Grain Belt Express. The department also questioned whether the $11 billion project could meet the financial conditions required for a loan guarantee. President Donald Trump has repeatedly derided wind and solar energy as 'unreliable' and opposed efforts to combat climate change by moving away from fossil fuels. The Department of Energy also said Wednesday that the conditional commitment to Invenergy in November was among billions of dollars' worth of commitments "rushed out the doors" by former President Joe Biden's administration after Biden lost the election. 'To ensure more responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources, DOE has terminated its conditional commitment,' the agency said in a statement. It wasn't immediately clear how much the department's action would delay or stop the start of construction, which was set to begin next year. The company's representatives didn't immediately respond to emails Wednesday seeking comment The company has said its project would create 4,000 jobs and new efficiencies in delivering power, and that it would save consumers $52 billion over 15 years. The line would deliver electricity from Kansas across Missouri and Illinois and into Indiana, connecting there to the power grid for the eastern U.S. It could deliver up to 5,000 megawatts of electricity. "When electricity demand and consumer power bills are soaring, it's hard to imagine a more backward move,' said Bob Keefe, executive director of E2, a nonpartisan, Washington-based group supporting renewable energy. Keefe called the Grain Belt Express 'one of the country's most important energy projects' and suggested Trump canceled the loan guarantee 'just because it will bring cleaner energy to more people.' But two prominent Missouri Republicans, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley and state Attorney General Andrew Bailey, are vocal critics of the project, describing it as a threat to farmland and land owners' property rights. Bailey called the project a 'scam' and a 'boondoggle.' Hawley said on July 10 that he had secured a pledge from U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright to cancel the loan guarantee in a conversation with him and Trump. Critics like Hawley object to the company's ability to use lawsuits against individual land owners along the line's route to compel them to sell their property, which Hawley called 'an elitist land grab.' Online court records show that the company filed dozens of such lawsuits in Missouri circuit courts in recent years, and the Missouri Farm Bureau's president posted on the social platform X Wednesday that the project threatened to 'sacrifice rural America in the name of progress.' Democrats on the U.S. Senate's energy committee suggested on X that Trump, Wright and Hawley 'just killed" the project, but Invenergy announced in May that it had awarded $1.7 billion in contracts for work on the project. And Bailey suggested in a statement that the project could still go forward with private funding without the loan guarantee, saying, 'If Invenergy still intends to force this project on unwilling landowners, we will continue to fight every step of the way.' John Hanna, The Associated Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
3 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump Abruptly Ends CNN Interview After Being Questioned About New Epstein Photos
President Donald Trump hung up on a CNN reporter during a phone call Tuesday that lasted a mere 30 seconds after the journalist questioned him about resurfaced images showing Jeffrey Epstein at Trump's 1993 wedding to his second wife, Marla Maples. While appearing Tuesday on 'Erin Burnett OutFront,' reporter Andrew Kaczynski shared details about the abrupt phone call with Trump that ended in name-calling. The call took place after CNN's 'KFile' found photos of Epstein and Trump that had not been widely reported on before. One photo showed the disgraced financier and sex offender attending Trump's Plaza Hotel wedding to Maples. In a separate image, Epstein was seen with Trump and his children at a Harley-Davidson Cafe that same year. CNN also released a video of Trump and Epstein chatting with each other at a Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York in February 1999. Kaczynski told host Burnett that the call, in which he asked Trump about the images, ended with the president slamming CNN as 'fake news' and hanging up after he refused to answer questions about his past connection to Epstein. 'We were not on the phone very long. I think our call was about 30 seconds or so,' Kaczynski told Burnett. 'But when I asked him about the wedding photo, he said, he sort of paused for a second and then said, 'You've got to be kidding me,' before calling CNN 'fake news' and then hanging up on me.' In a statement to CNN, Kaczynski said, White House communications director Steven Cheung said, 'These are nothing more than out-of-context frame grabs of innocuous videos and pictures of widely attended events to disgustingly infer something nefarious.' Cheung added: 'The fact is that the president kicked [Epstein] out of his club for being a 'creep.'' Kaczynski's heated yet ultra-brief conversation with Trump comes after the Department of Justice and FBI released a two-page memo earlier this month, claiming their Epstein investigation determined that there was no evidence Epstein was murdered or had a 'client list' of powerful figures he could potentially blackmail. Following the memo release, Trump faced scrutiny over his administration's handling of the Epstein files. Trump supporters and right-wing figures called on the president and his administration to release more information. Watch Kaczynski's appearance below. #CNNExclusive: #CNN obtains never before published photos of #PresidentTrump with #JeffreyEpstein, including photos at Trump's wedding and photos with two of #Trump's children.#BreakingNews#OutFrontCNN#EpsteinFiles#CNN#News#A3# — Erin Burnett OutFront (@OutFrontCNN) July 23, 2025 Related... 'Now Do Epstein': Martin Luther King Jr.'s Daughter Takes Aim At Trump Over Released MLK Files Trump Boldly Claims The 'Jeffrey Epstein Hoax' Has Boosted His Approval Rating 'Significantly' MAGA Is Probably Going To Be Pretty Disappointed By Trump's Latest Promise