Trump sues WSJ over Epstein sex bombshell, seeks $10bn

US 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.

- Reuters

The lawsuit filed in Miami federal court names Murdoch, Dow Jones, News Corp and its Chief Executive Robert Thomson, and two Wall Street Journal reporters as defendants, saying they defamed Trump and caused him to suffer “overwhelming” financial and reputational harm.

Epstein, the disgraced financier and sex offender, died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019.

His case has generated conspiracy theories that became popular among Trump's base of supporters who believed the government was covering up Epstein’s ties to the rich and powerful.

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.