President Donald Trump refused to comment on the birthday letter to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein that bears his signature and was recently released by the Wall Street Journal.
“I don’t comment on something that’s a dead issue,” Trump said during an interview with NBC News on Tuesday. “I gave all comments to the staff. That’s a dead issue.”
Trump has been evading conversations about Epstein for months now, particularly after Tesla CEO Elon Musk heightened the topic when the tech giant called Trump out for allegedly being in the “Epstein files.”
Trump’s latest comments come after the Wall Street Journal revealed the full letter from 2003 in a post on Monday titled “Epstein Birthday Letter With Trump’s Signature Revealed.” The WSJ reported in July that Trump contributed a suggestive entry in a leather-bound compilation of birthday messages for then-50-year-old “pal” Epstein in 2003, writing that “We have certain things in common” and “May every day be a new wonderful secret.”
The layout of the letter appears to be an image of a young woman’s body and features his signature at the bottom. The Journal said Epstein’s estate lawyers turned a copy of the letter, which was given to Epstein for his 50th birthday, over to Congress.
Trump has denied the letter’s existence.
“I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women,” Trump said at the time. “It’s not my language. It’s not my words.”
Trump has since sued the paper. WSJ is standing firm on its reporting, NBC News reported.
“I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his ‘pile of garbage’ newspaper, the WSJ,” Trump previously posted on Truth Social. “That will be an interesting experience!!!”
