The Wall Street Journal dropped an explosive story on Thursday night, adding a new wrinkle to the Jeffrey Epstein saga that has roiled President Donald Trump’s administration in recent weeks: in 2003, Trump allegedly wrote a “bawdy” letter to Epstein celebrating his 50th birthday.
According to the Journal, the letter included a crude drawing of a naked woman, along with a note that included the words, “We have certain things in common, Jeffrey […] Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
Trump has denied writing the letter and announced he will be suing Rupert Murdoch, who owns the Journal, over the report.
The reporting comes as the notorious sex criminal dominates the news after Trump repeatedly lashed out at his own supporters for demanding the release of documents related to his former friend.
What does the public record — so far — show about Trump’s relationship with Epstein?
The pair first became acquainted in the 1980s – the same decade Trump purchased his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, as well as several casinos
Epstein lived at the time in Palm Beach, and not far from Mar-a-Lago. He also frequently visited Atlantic City to meet with Trump, according to former Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino president Jack O’Donnell, who claimed he once reprimanded Trump for showing up with Epstein and a 19-year-old girl, who was not of legal age to be there.
“He frequently came down to Atlantic City, the two of them, to attend special events,” O’Donnell told CNN. “In my mind, it was his best friend.”
In the ’80s, ’90s, and early 2000s, Trump and Epstein appeared together at several events, including a number of parties held at Mar-a-Lago.
Footage of a 1992 party showed Trump and Epstein together at the Florida resort. The two men were also photographed together again at several events in 1997, including a Victoria’s Secret party.
In 2000, Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were photographed at Mar-a-Lago with Epstein and his partner Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking.
Trump’s name appeared on Epstein’s private jet flight logs eight times between 1993 and 1997, despite the president’s insistence he was “never on Epstein’s plane.” These flights reportedly went between Florida, Washington D.C., and New York.
In 1994, Trump traveled from Palm Beach to Teterboro, New Jersey, with a stop in Washington, DC with Epstein, Maxwell and Trump’s family, including his then-wife Marla and daughter Tiffany.
In 2002, Trump told New York magazine, “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” adding, “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”
A year later, according to the Journal, Trump allegedly wrote the crude letter to Epstein celebrating his 50th birthday.
Trump and Epstein had a falling out just one year later after the two men reportedly tried to purchase the same Palm Beach property.
A year after that, police began to investigate Epstein for child sex abuse. Epstein ended up pleading guilty to the lesser charge of procuring an underage prostitute and in 2009 was sentenced to 18 months in prison. However, Epstein served less than four months in prison before he was granted “work release,” which allowed him to leave jail for up to 12 hours a day. He ultimately served 13 months and was released in 2009.
Alexander Acosta, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida at the time, approved the controversial plea deal, which
In a 2017 interview with author Michael Wolff, Epstein allegedly boasted, “I was Donald’s closest friend for ten years.”
Trump, however, sought to distance himself from his former associate following Epstein’s 2008 and 2019 child sex convictions.
“I knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him,” Trump said in 2019. “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 was not a fan of his, that I can tell you. I was not a fan of his.”
While Trump called for “a full investigation” into Epstein, he had kinder words for Epstein’s partner, Maxwell.
“I do wish her well. I’m not looking for anything bad for her,” said Trump following Epstein’s 2019 death, which was ruled a suicide. “Her boyfriend died. He died in jail.”
While Trump floated the possibility that Epstein may have been murdered in his prison cell, he told Tucker Carlson in 2023, “I think he probably committed suicide.” A controversial July 2025 memo sent out by the Department of Justice concluded that Epstein killed himself and that
In 2020, former Epstein lawyer and associate Alan Dershowitz – who admitted to receiving a massage at Epstein’s home – joined Trump’s impeachment defense team.
Running for a second term in the White House in 2024, Trump expressed concern about releasing documents related to Epstein and his associates.
“You don’t want to affect people’s lives if it’s phony stuff in there, because it’s a lot of phony stuff with that whole world,” he said.
After winning the 2024 presidential election, Trump nominated Epstein’s former neighbor, Howard Lutnick, to serve as secretary of commerce.
In July 2025, Trump lashed out at his own supporters after they demanded the release of government documents related to Epstein.
“Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bullshit,’ hook, line, and sinker. They haven’t learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years,” complained Trump in a Truth Social post. “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 also claimed the Epstein files had been “made up by&
“I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody. It’s pretty boring stuff,” he said. “I don’t understand why it keeps going. I think, really, only pretty bad people, including fake news, wanna keep something like that going.”
According to a new YouGov poll, 67% of Americans – including 59% of Trump voters – believe the Trump administration is “covering up evidence relating to [the] Epstein case.” A CNN poll, meanwhile, found that just 3% of Americans were satisfied with the amount of information that the government had shared about Epstein.