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The Independent
18 hours ago
- The Independent
Reported birthday card from Trump to Epstein shines new light on their friendship
Donald Trump reportedly helped celebrate Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday with a bawdy greeting accompanied by a hand-drawn image of a naked woman. A report from The Wall Street Journal on Thursday uncovers new details about the relationship between the president and disgraced financier and convicted sex offender, whose death and connections to Trump are at the center of an explosive feud between his allies and right-wing figures demanding more information about the case. A letter bearing Trump's name, which the report claims was reviewed by The Journal , contains several lines of typewritten text framed by a drawing of a naked woman. His signature is a squiggly 'Donald' below her waist, mimicking pubic hair, according to the report. The letter is reported to conclude: 'Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.' In an interview with The Journal, Trump denied writing the letter or drawing the picture: 'This is not me. This is a fake thing. It's a fake Wall Street Journal story.' Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein pictured in 1992. A new report shed new light on the friendship between the two men (NBC News) 'I never wrote a picture in my life. I don't draw pictures of women,' he told the conservative-leaning newspaper, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who has over the years supported Trump. 'It's not my language. It's not my words,' Trump told the newspaper. Following The Journal 's report, the president said he intends to sue the outlet and parent company News Corp — then instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to 'produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony' related to the case, 'subject to Court approval.' He claimed on his Truth Social account that the newspaper printed a 'false, malicious, and defamatory story' after Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt personally warned Murdoch and editor Emma Tucker against running it. In another Truth Social post around 10 p.m. Thursday, the president said, 'The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein. These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don't draw pictures. I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn't print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I'm going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper. Thank you for your attention to this matter! DJT.' The Journal reported a typewritten note styled as an imaginary conversation between Trump and Epstein, written in the third person, is included inside the outline of the naked woman, in Trump's alleged birthday letter to Epstein. The newspaper claims to have reviewed pages from a leather-bound album of birthday cards that were examined by Department of Justice officials who investigated Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who was found guilty of child sex trafficking and other offenses in 2022. In the imagined conversation, Trump reportedly says 'we have certain things in common, Jeffrey,' to which Epstein replies, 'Yes, we do, come to think of it.' 'Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?' Trump writes, according to The Journal. Epstein died while in prison facing sex trafficking charges. While conspiracies have swirled about his 'client list,' Trump officials have recently said that no list exists () The revelation follows a disastrous week for the Trump administration as the president repeatedly tries to dismiss the so-called Epstein files as a Democratic 'hoax.' Thursday's report illustrates a closer than previously reported relationship between the president and Epstein, who was accused of sexually abusing dozens of minors before he was found dead in his jail cell in 2019. A Justice Department memo on July 6 had effectively closed the case, affirming that no such 'client list' exists despite demands from Trump's supporters and allies for a full accounting of Epstein's death and alleged ties to a wider child trafficking conspiracy implicating powerful figures. On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly promised to release FBI files related to Epstein, who was found dead in his jail cell on on August 10, 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. But the president's promises fell flat. Bondi, on Trump's directive, also promised to release the files, but after months of delays, the memo from the Justice Department and FBI said agencies would not be releasing any more documents relating to the case. Bondi had claimed the files were 'sitting on her desk' in February. She invited right-wing influencers to the White House for a photo-op at the end of that month, where they held up binders containing 'Phase 1' of the Epstein files, largely made up of already publicly available information about the case. Bondi continued to stall. In May, she claimed there were 'tens of thousands of videos of Epstein with children or child porn,' which fueled further conspiracy theories that powerful people were being protected, and that 'Phase 1' binders were allegedly buying time. The administration's failure to release any other details about the investigation has been a major blow for Trump's supporters — including those within Trump's own administration. Deputy FBI director Don Bongino, who last year amplified conspiracy theories that Epstein was murdered, almost walked over the memo, according to reports. Trump has spoken out against those questioning him about the release of the Epstein files. (AP) While the White House likely hoped MAGA's fury would blow over quickly, outrage has only intensified. Frustrated, Trump lashed out at his supporters this week and reportedly complained in private that they won't 'shut the f*** up' about the Epstein files. Trump has spent several days publicly calling the Epstein case 'boring' and 'bulls***' as he questioned the loyalty of gullible 'weaklings' who demanded more from his Justice Department. 'Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don't even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don't want their support anymore!' Trump said in a Truth Social fury post. Even the White House has tried to temper the fury. On July 17, Leavitt was asked whether the president would appoint a special prosecutor to oversee the Epstein case. 'The president would not recommend a special prosecutor in the Epstein case,' Leavitt said. 'That's how he feels. And as for his discussions with the attorney general, I'm not sure.' Trump's friendship with Epstein spanned the late 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, and Trump's phone number — as well as First Lady Melania Trump's — were included in Epstein's infamous leaked address books. Trump's name also appeared seven times in passenger logs for Epstein's planes. The pair reportedly fell out in 2004, when Epstein and Trump both tried to buy a Palm Beach estate. The next year, the FBI began investigating Epstein for child sex trafficking. He pleaded guilty to a state charge of soliciting sex from a minor in 2008. Trump distanced himself from his former friend after Epstein's arrest in 2019, when Trump was president. 'Well, I knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him,' Trump said on July 9, 2019, one day after Epstein's arrest. 'I mean, people in Palm Beach knew him. He was a fixture in Palm Beach. I had a falling out with him a long time ago. I don't think I've spoken to him for 15 years. I wasn't a fan.' Asked three days later what contributed to that 'falling out,' Trump said 'the reason doesn't make any difference, frankly.' One month later, Epstein was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City.
NBC News
18 hours ago
- NBC News
White House tightens its grip on Jeffrey Epstein messaging
WASHINGTON — Jeffrey Epstein is dead, but the White House can't seem to kill his story. President Donald Trump and his aides have settled on silence as a strategy to stamp out criticism of his refusal to release files detailing the federal government's investigation of Epstein, according to a senior administration official and Republicans familiar with the White House's thinking. For weeks, stories about Epstein, the financier and pal to political luminaries who died by suicide awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges in 2019, have been making headlines. In a break from Trump's usual crisis communications template — which emphasizes an all-hands-on-deck approach to defending him on television and on social media — the Epstein case has been met with more restraint from the White House. Trump himself has signaled that he doesn't want members of his administration talking about the matter nonstop, a person close to the White House told NBC News. And White House aides have made it clear that no one in the administration is allowed to talk about Epstein without high-level vetting, according to a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "The communications office has to be directly involved in every aspect of this," the official said. "Every 'i' must be dotted, and every 't' must be crossed through us." Trump's aides would like for the Epstein storm to pass, but they know they can't keep Trump and other administration officials off television at a time when they are trying to promote his policy wins and agenda. The senior administration official said White House officials won't stop making appearances in the media, which will inevitably lead to Epstein questions. But they are still trying to determine how to balance defending Trump on the issue while deflecting inquiries by touting his accomplishments. That represents a shift of sorts for a president who has generally liked his top deputies and administration officials to robustly defend him to the media, regardless of the issue. 'The questions are going to come, but whether we engage or not is part of the consideration,' the official said. But Trump, who is accustomed to driving the news, is finding out there are limits to his ability to pivot away from an issue that has angered parts of his MAGA base, consumed news media, broken into popular culture and mobilized a Democratic Party that has been dormant and divided since he was re-elected in November. On Wednesday, a federal judge in Florida ruled against the Justice Department's request to unseal grand jury testimony in the Epstein case, launching a raft of new headlines. Then, The Wall Street Journal, owned by Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch, reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi had told Trump in May that his name appears in the Epstein files — even though he told reporters in July that Bondi hadn't informed him that he was named. 'The fact is that the president kicked [Epstein] out of his club for being a creep,' White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement. 'This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media, just like the Obama Russiagate scandal, which President Trump was right about.' Trump called Epstein a 'terrific guy' in 2002 but said in 2019 that they had a 'falling-out a long time ago.' He has said he had no knowledge of what Epstein was doing. On Tuesday, Trump baselessly accused former President Barack Obama of committing "treason" because U.S. intelligence agencies found, during the heat of the 2016 campaign, that Russia had tried to interfere in that year's election to assist Trump. Trump made the highly charged allegation in response to a reporter's question about Epstein, and it prompted a rare rebuke from Obama's office, which called the remarks "ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction." White House officials hope to limit the blast radius of a self-detonated scandal, which Trump and members of his administration fueled by accusing leading Democrats of hiding information about Epstein when he was seeking the presidency. Bondi raised expectations among Trump supporters in February by promising to release long-sought files, telling Fox News that Epstein's client list was "sitting on my desk right now." But her own Justice Department said this month that it didn't have any such "client list," and other files remain in his administration's hands. Trump's quick pivot to a flurry of other issues that also animate his base have contained much of the unease among top MAGA influencers. Still, political operatives in both parties see the issue as one that is hurting Trump and helping Democrats. 'Things are, obviously, different with this one,' said a Republican operative familiar with the White House's thinking. 'This has blown a bit of a hole in MAGA, so reflexive defense mode, as we have often seen in the past, won't always be the go-to. Part of the problem is that this issue has leaked into conservative media. In the past, they [White House] could expect certain interviewers to be friendly and stay on script; that's not guaranteed with this one.' Some Democrats see the issue as a perfect vehicle for painting Trump as an elite protecting the powerful at the expense of the masses, undercutting the image he has crafted for himself as a populist champion of the powerless. 'It's the first time we've got his a-- on something for real, and it's just a clean, clean hit,' said Mike Nellis, a Democratic strategist who is working with several potential 2028 candidates. 'He can't get off of it.' Nellis said the Epstein imbroglio could be part of a winning midterm and 2028 presidential message because it threatens MAGA's confidence in the GOP's commitment to exposing corruption. He noted that Vice President JD Vance, widely viewed as a leading candidate for the 2028 Republican nomination, has mostly stopped talking about Epstein after having agreed in an interview with MAGA-friendly podcaster Theo Von last year that the documents should be made public. (Von last week posted a clip of the comment on X and wrote: 'Yeah, what changed?') Vance's first post amid the recent uproar came last week, after The Wall Street Journal published an article about a letter including a racy drawing that Trump is alleged to have sent Epstein for his birthday in 2003. He called the article 'complete and utter bulls---.' But other Democrats expressed reservations over getting too far in front of the Epstein files. 'I think it's emblematic of the real lack of opportunities Dems have in this moment,' a national Democratic strategist said. 'Trump sort of gifted this, and while it's great to capitalize on it — and I'm glad people are — I'd caution Dems of thinking this is a hot ticket back to anything." For Republicans, there is acknowledgment that it's going to be virtually impossible to turn the page on this story any time soon, particularly since it began with an internal MAGA rift. 'Short of a war or some life-changing news event,' a Trump ally said, 'I'm not sure what does the trick.' Republican leaders in Congress have, for the moment, largely evaded a bipartisan push to require the release of the Epstein files, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., adjourned his chamber early for its annual August recess as Democrats forced multiple difficult votes on the topic in committee. They got one win Wednesday, when three Republicans joined with Democrats on a House Oversight subcommittee to vote to subpoena the Justice Department for Epstein files. And with Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, of Kentucky, and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, of California, threatening to force a House floor vote on the files with a rarely used procedural maneuver, a roll call may be unavoidable in the fall. Kevin Olasanoye, a Democratic strategist and former executive director of the Georgia Democratic Party, said the White House's considerable attempts to divert from the Epstein saga were evident. In addition to Trump's accusing Obama of treason, the Trump administration has, in the past week, released files on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated in 1968, and asserted — in contradiction of past probes — that Russia didn't try to interfere in the 2016 election. 'They're throwing everything against the wall,' he said. 'This is about pointing out the hypocrisy of what the Republicans have been doing. They are saying one thing, and they are quite literally out in the open doing another."
NBC News
a day ago
- NBC News
Woman arrested for allegedly posing as a nurse in multiple states
A woman was arrested for allegedly posing as a nurse in multiple states dating back five years, using 20 different aliases and seven Social Security numbers. NBC News' Aaron Gilchrist has more on the apparent scheme. July 24, 2025
