NEW YORK — Donald Trump filed a US$10 billion lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal, its owner News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, and two reporters, accusing them of defamation over a report claiming he sent Jeffrey Epstein a sexually suggestive birthday greeting in 2003.

Filed in Florida federal court, Trump alleged the story was false, malicious, and damaged him financially and reputationally. He denied the report and vowed to make Murdoch testify, calling the WSJ a “pile of garbage” on Truth Social.

The lawsuit comes as the Justice Department moves to unseal grand jury transcripts in Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s cases, with redactions to protect victims. The Epstein scandal remains a point of conspiracy theories and anger among Trump’s base, despite his past statements of having distanced himself from Epstein years before the financier’s 2006 arrest.

The WSJ said Trump’s note appeared in a birthday book alongside messages from other prominent figures, years before Epstein’s crimes became public.