Latest news with #TrumpNeverGiveUp
Indian Express
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Trump says, ‘I don't draw,' but has past sketches sold at auctions
US President Donald Trump has publicly claimed he does not draw, while rejecting a Wall Street Journal report claiming he drew a sexually suggestive sketch in a 2003 birthday note addressed to Jeffrey Epstein. But sketches attributed to him have been auctioned for thousands of dollars over the years. 'I don't draw pictures,' he wrote on Truth Social this week, calling the story 'a scam.' Yet that assertion clashes with a record of at least five simple marker drawings, cityscapes, landmarks, even a 'money tree,' signed 'Donald' and auctioned for thousands between the late 1990s and mid-2000s, as per The Independent. In his 2008 memoir Trump Never Give Up, he wrote: 'It takes me a few minutes to draw something… but it raises thousands of dollars to help the hungry in New York.' Many were initially donated to charities in the early 2000s and later resold at significant prices, NYT reported. According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump donated a 'bawdy' birthday message for Epstein's 50th, created in a leather-bound book assembled by Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003. It featured a crude drawing of a naked woman framed by typewritten lines, ending with the signature 'Donald.' The note allegedly contained a mock dialogue: 'We have certain things in common, Jeffrey… every day be another wonderful secret'. He added, 'Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?' So far, no visuals from the Maxwell-bound album have been publicly released; so coverage relies on The Journal's description and court filings. Trump disputes both the imagery and the words, stating 'These are not my words,' and has filed a defamation suit seeking at least $10 billion against The Journal, News Corp, and Rupert Murdoch. White House spokesman Steven Cheung dismissed the Journal report, along with any implication that Trump's known sketches matched the description in question. 'As the president has said, the Wall Street Journal printed fake news and he doesn't draw things like the outlet described,' Cheung said in a statement. Cheung also criticised The New York Times, calling its coverage 'false and defamatory,' and claiming its comparison of Trump's previous sketches to the card illustration proves it is 'the enemy of the people.' (With inputs from Reuters, The Independent, The Guardian, The New York Times)
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump Sues Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdoch Over Report on Epstein Birthday Letter
Following The Wall Street Journal's bombshell report on a birthday letter Donald Trump allegedly wrote to Jeffrey Epstein, the president sued the newspaper's parent company, News Corp., Dow Jones (its publisher), two reporters for the Journal, and billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who owns News Corp. owner. According to the lawsuit filed in Southern District of Florida on Friday and obtained by Rolling Stone Trump is seeking at least $10 billion in damages and accused the Journal of 'knowingly and recklessly published the numerous false, defamatory, and disparaging statements' in their report. He also alleged that reporters Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo 'falsely represent as fact that President Trump drew the naked woman's breasts and signed his name 'Donald' below her waist. Trump also accused the reporters of having 'failed attach the letter, failed to attach the alleged drawing, failed to show proof that President Trump authored or signed any such letter, and failed to explain how this purported letter was obtained,' adding: 'The reason for those failures is because no authentic letter or drawing exists.' In the Journal's story published Thursday evening, the newspaper alleged that a collection of letter had been gifted to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday and compiled in a 2003 album by Ghislane Maxwell, also a convicted sex offender. According to the newspaper, among the pages of the album was a note bearing Donald Trump's name outlined by a drawing of a naked woman that also enclosed the text: 'We have certain things in common, Jeffrey.' The president has vehemently denied that he wrote the letter or drew the picture. 'The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein,' he wrote on Truth Social following the report. 'These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don't draw pictures.' Despite Trump's denial that he doesn't doodle, he has a well-known history of drawing pictures for charity events. Trump himself has boasted about his penchant for scribbles, and in a 2010 book titled Trump Never Give Up, he wrote: 'Sometimes being a giver will open you up to new talents. Each year I donate an autographed doodle to the Doodle for Hunger auction at Tavern on the Green. It takes me a few minutes to draw something.… Art may not be my strong point, but the end result is help for people who need it.' In a Truth Social post shared on Friday, Trump wrote: 'I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his 'pile of garbage' newspaper, the WSJ. That will be an interesting experience!!!' More from Rolling Stone Republicans Obey Trump, Vote to Cut Funding for NPR and PBS 'Five-Alarm Fire': Texas Dem Sounds Off on Trump's Bid to Gerrymander Midterms The No Kings Playbook to Confront Trump's 'Authoritarian Breakthrough' Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
Daily Mirror
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
BUCKTIN: MAGA messiah to Murdoch pariah - final goodbye to Trump's credibility
If there was ever a final line Donald Trump couldn't afford to cross, it has now been dragged beneath him in thick black marker - reportedly scrawled under the waist of a naked woman in a birthday card to Jeffrey Epstein For many public figures, a friendship with Jeffrey Epstein would already have proved ruinous. Just ask Prince Andrew. Until now Trump has successfully portrayed his acquaintance with the paedophile financier as nothing sinister but this alleged birthday card could change all that. As ever, the President responded with denials, declaring: 'I never wrote a picture in my life.' That at least is a provable lie – his 2008 book Trump Never Give Up dedicates a whole section to his 'talent' for doodling pictures. And signed sketches of cityscapes and buildings drawn by Trump have sold at auction for up to £22,000. So why lie? It's because if this naked sketch is real – if Trump really did send it to Jeffrey Epstein – the implications are devastating. His words with it, 'We have certain things in common, Jeffrey,' reveal camaraderie with a man who was trafficking underage girls. Trump's once-loyal Maga base is in revolt, as are those who peddled his propaganda. For years, Rupert Murdoch's US media empire – Fox News, the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal – shielded and amplified Trump. Now it is the WSJ that is delivering the coup de grâce. Trump may still rely on Fox's sycophants, but the Journal's coverage is more rigorous than ever: sceptical, critical and, crucially, uninterested in protecting his image. The editorial lines emerging from Murdoch's publications show the media mogul no longer believes in Trump's viability or political immunity. The meltdown is more than personal betrayal; it has national consequences too. The flagship media support that once conferred legitimacy on Trump has crumbled. The Journal's reputation now rests on exposing Trump as duplicitous, feckless, even disgusting – a far cry from the pre-2024 cheerleading. The convicted criminal can shout 'fake news' all he wants. But the evidence is mounting. The man has surrounded himself with secrets for far too long. It's time for Trump to go.
