The White House is on the defensive after the Wall Street Journal published an image of a birthday letter allegedly written by President Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein.
The letter, dated 2003 and meant to mark Epstein’s 50th, was handed over to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee by lawyers for Epstein’s estate and appeared to carry Trump’s signature.
The revelation is awkward for the administration, which had previously insisted the letter didn’t exist. But once the Journal released it, press secretary Karoline Leavitt doubled down. “The latest piece published by the Wall Street Journal PROVES this entire ‘Birthday Card’ story is false,” she wrote in a fiery post on X.
(Photo by Davidoff Studios Photography/Getty Images)
“As I have said all along, it’s very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it,” Leavitt continued. “President Trump’s legal team will continue to aggressively pursue litigation.”
She didn’t provide new evidence to support the denial but took a shot at reporter Joe Palazzolo, claiming he reached out for comment only right before publication.
The story took another turn when critics revisited comments from Vice President JD Vance, who dismissed the allegations back in July when the letter was first reported.
At the time, Vance called it “complete and utter bullshit,” writing, “Where is this letter? Would you be shocked to learn they never showed it to us before publishing it? Does anyone honestly believe this sounds like Donald Trump?”
On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom had some fun with the situation. Quoting Vance’s old post on X, he added simply, “This aged nicely.”
The resurfacing of the letter and the administration’s refusal to acknowledge its authenticity is only fueling more questions. The bold denial, paired with ongoing legal threats against the Wall Street Journal, highlights how seriously the White House is treating the controversy.
But the release of the actual document has clearly raised the stakes, giving Trump’s critics new material and forcing his allies to revisit past statements that don’t quite hold up anymore.