WASHINGTON — Donald Trump denies creating a sexually suggestive drawing in a 2003 birthday note to Jeffrey Epstein, despite a history of his sketches being sold at auctions, the New York Times reported Friday.

Trump claimed on Truth Social, “I don’t draw pictures,” disputing a Wall Street Journal report linking him to the drawing. He sued the Journal and its owners Friday for at least US$10 billion, calling the story defamatory.

However, sketches attributed to Trump — signed cityscapes and landmarks — have appeared in charity auctions since the early 2000s, fetching thousands of dollars. In his 2008 book Trump Never Give Up, he even wrote about drawing buildings and skyscrapers to raise funds for New York’s hungry.

White House spokesman Steven Cheung dismissed any link between Trump’s sketches and the drawing described in the Journal’s story, calling it “fake news” and accusing the media of false equivalence.