Image source, Reuters
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- Author, Nadine Yousif
- Author's title, BBC News
The president of the USA Wall Street Journal, Already its owner, billionaire Rupert Murdoch.
The American president states that the publication slandered and violated the defamation laws by publishing an article that alleges that a birthday congratulation with the name of Trump and an obscene drawing was sent to the late sexual offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2003, before he was accused of sexual crimes.
Trump said the note, which according to the newspaper had sent for Epstein's 50th birthday, is “false.”
This occurred after the United States Department of Justice asked a judge to reveal material related to Epstein, after the intense criticism of the management of the case by the Trump administration.
Image source, Davidoff Studios/Getty Images
Malicious news
“We have just submitted a blunt demand against all those involved in the publication of the article of false, malicious, defamatory and false news in the useless newspaper The Wall Street Journal,” Trump wrote on his social network.
“I hope that Rupert and his 'friends' are looking forward to hearing the many hours of statements and testimonies that they will have to offer in this case,” he said.
He added that the newspaper Ya Murdoch was warned – with whom Trump has maintained an irregular relationship for decades – that would be demanded if they published the article.
A Dow Jones spokesman told the BBC: “We have full confidence in the rigor and precision of our information and we will strongly defend ourselves with any demand.”
Murdoch, who was seen last Sunday attending the world final of FIFA clubs with Trump, founded a media empire that some attribute to having helped boost the president to the White House.
“These are not my words”
According to him Wall Street Journala letter with the name of Trump “contained several target lines of text framed by the silhouette of a naked woman, who seems hand drawn with a thick marker.”
“Within the naked woman's silhouette there was a typed note that simulated an imaginary conversation between Trump and Epstein, written in the third person,” said the newspaper.
It supposedly contained a joke reference that “the enigmas never age” and supposedly ended with the words: “A friend is something wonderful. Happy birthday, and that every day is another wonderful secret.”
Trump denied having written the note after the publication of the article on Thursday, and wrote: “These are not my words, it is not my way of speaking. Besides, I do not make drawings.”
Image source, Getty Images
On Thursday, Trump ordered the attorney general PAM Bondi to request the dissemination of documents related to Epstein's secret testimony before a large jury.
The Department of Justice formally submitted the request to a judge in New York, arguing that the materials related to the case – in which Epstein was accused of trafficking with dozens of girls of just 14 years – “are considered of public interest.”
The department also requested the dissemination of information in the case of its partner Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of conspiracy for minors sex.
A large jury – a panel of people who examines whether there are sufficient evidence to accuse a person of a crime – can listen to confidential informants and those whose identity is protected by their safety. The materials presented before a large jury are usually kept secret by law, but a judge can reveal documents if he decides that the public interest prevails over the need for such legal protections.
In any case, it is not clear when or if the documents will be published, or if they contain many of the details that Trump's supporters have been demanding to see.
Greater transparency
Friday's events occurred in the middle of a turbulent week for the president, since some of his most loyal supporters demanded greater transparency and public dissemination in the Epstein case.
Some have even requested the resignation of Attorney General Bondi after retracting the publication of certain documents related to Epstein.
Chad Bianco, a republican sheriff who is postulated for Governor of California, told BBC News that Trump's management of Epstein's archives was not the one he “expected” and that “millions” of his followers are disappointed.
“We feel that they are treating us with condescension like silly children,” he added.
Meanwhile, members of the Congress press to approve a “request for discharge” that would force Bondi to publish a wide range of materials that the Department of Justice has related to Epstein.
The initiative has united some of the most fierce rivals in the US Congress, such as Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene and Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Your most faithful followers at risk
Analysis of Anthony Zurcher, BBC correspondent in North America
Trump started an extensive post posted on his social social network social this Wednesday with a style that is already familiar: blaming the controversy around Epstein's archives to the “radical leftist Democrats.”
“These deceptions and frauds are the only thing that the Democrats are good,” he wrote. “They are not good governing, they are not good in politics and they are not good by choosing winning candidates.”
Trump has already used this type of rhetoric of 'us against them' to strengthen his followers, presenting himself as someone who fights for the marginalized and unhappy that faces the privileged and rich and who is now in trouble.
However, that the strategy could be failed this time became evident to half publication, when he began to blame his own party and his followers of having fallen into a “leftist trap.”
“My followers of the past fell into this 'shit', they ate the hook,” he wrote. “They have not learned their lesson, and probably they will never.”
Later, in the Oval office, Trump continued to blame those of his own bench, repeating that “some stupid republicans, some silly Republicans, have fallen into the trap.”
The president is marking the battle lines on the Epstein issue and they divide his own side. And with this, he also risks undermining the foundations on which his political force is built.
Trump's success has been promoted by two central messages to his followers: that he is someone who fights an establishment corrupt, and that says things as they are.
At a time when many voters say they are tired of polished politicians with changing opinions, Trump's base sees it as authentic: without ornaments and controversial, yes, but honest.
Trump, who has never departed from wild conspiracy theories or from those who embrace them, is now arguing that there is no “credible” evidence that implies the rich and powerful in the Epstein case and that those who think otherwise are silly or naive.
His changing comments – which Epstein's archives should be published, that there are no files, that any possible file are deception – they also seem less and less a straight man and more someone with something to hide.
He faces the problem of trying to try a negative. And for the moment, some of his supporters are not believing him.
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