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Trump said the letter the Wall Street Journal alleged he wrote to Epstein was a ‘fake’ and that he plans to sue the publication owned by Rupert Murdoch – key US politics stories from 17 July 2025
Guardian staff
Fri 18 Jul 2025 04.25 BST
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Growing pressure on the Trump administration has prompted the US president to direct his attorney general, Pam Bondi, to seek the release of grand jury testimony related to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking case.
The announcement came as Trump seeks to tamp down controversy over a story published in the Wall Street Journal that alleges the US president contributed a sketch of a naked woman to Epstein’s 50th birthday album. The president has said the letter is a fake, and that he will sue the publication over the story.
The fallout over the Epstein case has also complicated House Republicans’ plans to vote on Thursday on legislation demanded by Trump to slash government spending.
Here are the key stories at a glance:
Trump denies the Epstein birthday message was his
The president said on Truth Social he had authorized the justice department to seek the public release of the materials, which are under seal, citing “the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein”.
Bondi, who has weathered days of accusations by Trump’s far-right supporters that she had mismanaged and failed to deliver on promises to release previously secret documents about the Epstein case, responded to Trump’s post with a post of her own that vowed to comply with the directive.
