'Defamation!' White House doubles down after Trump's note to Epstein published
U.S. President Donald Trump reacts while sitting next to the President of Poland Karol Nawrocki during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 3, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

A White House official denied that a note to Jeffrey Epstein, published by The Wall Street Journal and House Democrats, was authored by President Donald Trump.

On Monday, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee told the paper that the Epstein estate had provided a note that Trump wrote to the sex offender for his 50th birthday. The note referenced a "wonderful secret" and included the silhouette of a naked woman.

Trump sued the Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch in July after details of the birthday note were first reported.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich again denied that Trump had written the note following its publication on Monday.

"Time for @newscorp to open that checkbook, it’s not his signature. DEFAMATION!" he wrote on X.

Budowich included photos of Trump's signature on presidential documents, which were signed decades after the birthday note was written.