Donald Trump once contributed to an album of birthday letters for disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein that included the president’s signature and a reference to “secrets” the two men shared, according to an explosive article published last week by the Wall Street Journal. But the Journal didn’t publish any images of the birthday letter, leaving people to wonder what it might have looked like. And social media users have produced quite a few cards made to look like the one described in the article, but they’re all fake.
The album was assembled by longtime Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003 for Epstein’s 50th birthday, according to the Journal. It included letters from a number of the late sex offender’s friends, including not just Trump but billionaire Leslie Wexner and attorney Alan Dershowitz. Trump denies the letter exists and has sued the Wall Street Journal, as well as owner Rupert Murdoch, over the article.
What the real letter says (allegedly)
The Journal article described Trump’s letter as “several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker.” The article also said it had “small arcs” denoting a woman’s breasts and a squiggly “Donald” below the figure’s waist, “mimicking pubic hair.” The article was careful to note that it’s not clear how the letter with Trump’s signature was prepared, suggesting that Trump himself may not have hand-drawn any portion of it.
The letter allegedly includes an imagined conversation between Epstein and Trump where the two men say they “have certain things in common,” and it cryptically states that “enigmas never age,” reportedly concluding with the line, “Happy Birthday—and may every day be another wonderful secret.” It’s weird, to say the least. But fake versions of the letter have drawn on these details to come up with their own visual take.
The Wall Street Journal has a strong reputation for accuracy, and it goes without saying that any claim involving Donald Trump’s relationship with Epstein would obviously be known to attract lawsuits. The president has sued CBS News and ABC News, organizations that have paid out massive settlements to Trump, even if legal experts believe the underlying cases were nonsense.
But the absence of any visual evidence for this letter to Epstein has not only left room for Trump to claim the letter doesn’t exist, but it’s also created a vacuum online where social media users can invent fake versions of the letter. And given how easy it is to create fake images these days, we’re seeing quite a few.
Fake letter #1
In one fake version of the drawing that’s currently circulating on X, the user implores others to help spread it. “Here is a hand drawn birthday note from Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein. Enjoy and definitely don’t share [wink emoji] He would hate that,” the tweet reads.
But there’s no evidence this one is real. In fact, the earliest instance we could find of this image being shared was by YourAnonNews, which notes, “This is an artist’s recreation of the letter. The original letter needs to be made public.” It’s not clear which “artist” may have created this fake letter.
Fake letter #2
Another version looks more homemade, existing in physical space rather than strictly a digital creation. The letter appears to be on a table, but it still uses a similar style for a woman’s figure. One tweet about the image claims without evidence that “a friend who’s well connected in DC sent me a photo that’s been going around this morning in his circles, allegedly of the drawing Trump sent to Epstein.”
There’s no evidence that this drawing is real, and it also includes a big red flag that makes it very different from the letter described by the Journal. Notably, the signature is Trump’s full name. In the Journal article, the signature is described as simply reading “Donald.” Trump’s signature is famous and can be found in plenty of places, including Wikipedia.
The version above looks identical in such a precise way that it’s likely pulled from the Wikipedia image, as you can see in our side-by-side.
Fake letter #3
Another version of the letter that’s been doing the rounds on Facebook, Bluesky, and X shows more of a side-view drawing of a female figure. But it appears to be getting traction on social media because it’s done on Trump’s letterhead.
But this version of the letter also differs in significant ways from what’s described by the Journal. For instance, the last line is described by the newspaper as “Donald: A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.” As you can see in the image above, the word “Donald” isn’t included in that last line.
It may seem like a frivolous detail, but those are exactly the kinds of things you need to look out for because the Journal would presumably make sure that such an important article was as precise as possible. The president is extremely litigious, as we all know.
Fake letter #4
Another version shows a figure drawn on three-hole style paper.
While this letter shares visual traits with the second letter above, it does look like it was probably created digitally rather than printed out and photographed. It’s difficult to tell, given how advanced generative artificial intelligence tools have become at making life-like images, but this one looks much more fake than the rest in that regard. There’s no evidence this version of the letter is real.
Fake letter #5
Yet another version of the letter is even more crude to the point of being comical. It appears to have been first shared by John LeFevre with a tweet that reads, “The WSJ wants us to believe Merrick Garland and Christopher Wray sat on this for 4 years. RIP The Wall Street Journal.”
One user asked Grok, Elon Musk’s Hitler-loving AI, whether the image was real. Incredibly, it responded that “Yes, this matches the WSJ’s description of the 2003 birthday letter to Epstein: a ‘Happy Birthday’ note with a crude drawing of a naked woman, signed by Trump (who denies it). The DOJ reviewed it, fueling claims it was withheld under Garland and Wray.”
Grok is not a reliable fact-checker. There’s no evidence that this one is real either, obviously, and it feels silly to even put a “fake” badge on the image above just to make sure nobody thinks it’s real.
Where does the story go from here?
Trump has sued the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch personally over the article, seeking $10 billion in damages. The president told the newspaper, “This is not me. This is a fake thing. It’s a fake Wall Street Journal story,” and “I never wrote a picture in my life.” And while the Journal was clearly careful to note that it’s possible he didn’t actually draw the image of the woman, Trump has very famously donated his own drawings for charity auctions, according to CNN.
Gizmodo has not independently verified the existence of the letter, and to our knowledge, the Journal is the only news outlet with reporters who have seen it with their own eyes. But a $10 billion lawsuit is no joke in the media business, and only time will tell if Murdoch settles with Trump like ABC and CBS chose to do.
People online have been excited about what may come out at trial. But it’s probably worth noting that ABC News settled with Trump a week before George Stephanopoulos and the president were scheduled to give depositions. Everyone seems excited about the fact that “discovery” goes both ways in a lawsuit like this, but if history is any guide, the public may not get that opportunity. ABC News paid $15 million while CBS News paid $16 million, money ostensibly to go to Trump’s presidential library, though it technically goes to the private foundation tasked with administering any future library.
If the Epstein letter ever becomes public, it’ll be interesting to see if it’s included in the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library. We’re not holding our breath on that, of course.
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