US4 min(s) read
Published 09:08 09 Sep 2025 GMT
A controversial “birthday book” once belonging to Jeffrey Epstein has been made public, including a letter that Donald Trump allegedly wrote.
The book, professionally bound and created in 2003 for Epstein’s 50th birthday by Ghislaine Maxwell, contains notes from a range of high-profile figures, per BBC News.
Alongside submissions from former President Bill Clinton, billionaire Leon Black, and defense attorney Alan Dershowitz, is an alleged “bawdy” letter from Trump featuring a hand-drawn nude figure and his reported signature.
Lawyers for Epstein’s estate turned the book over to the House Oversight Committee after being subpoenaed last month.
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Along with the scrapbook — titled The First Fifty Years — lawmakers also received Epstein’s will, nearly 30 years of entries in his personal address book, and a 2007 non-prosecution agreement from federal prosecutors.
Before the Oversight Committee officially published the documents, House Democrats released an image of the alleged Trump letter online.
“President Trump called the Epstein investigation a hoax and claimed that his birthday note didn’t exist. Now we know that Donald Trump was lying and is doing everything he can to cover up the truth,” Oversight ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) said on Monday.
“Enough of the games and lies, release the full files now.”
The Oversight Democrats’ social media account added: “HERE IT IS: We got Trump’s birthday note to Jeffrey Epstein that the President said doesn’t exist. Trump talks about a ‘wonderful secret’ the two of them shared. What is he hiding? Release the files!”
The note, reportedly sent to Epstein in 2003, contains several phrases that Democrats say contradict Trump’s public denials, per the Independent.
“Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,” the message reads. It also features an imagined exchange between Trump and Epstein, in which the president allegedly wrote that “enigmas never age” and “we have certain things in common.”
The card includes a sketch of a nude woman, with Trump’s signature appearing to mimic pubic hair.
The White House immediately rejected the authenticity of the note.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote: “The latest piece published by the Wall Street Journal PROVES this entire ‘Birthday Card’ story is false. As I have said all along, it’s very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it.
"President Trump’s legal team will continue to aggressively pursue litigation ... This is FAKE NEWS to perpetuate the Democrat Epstein Hoax!”
Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich echoed that on social media: “Time for @newscorp to open that checkbook, it’s not his signature. DEFAMATION!”
The president has denied writing the letter altogether, calling it a “fake thing.”
In July, he filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, its reporters, publisher Dow Jones, and News Corp owner Rupert Murdoch.
“No authentic letter or drawing exists,” the complaint states, adding that the outlet “chose to deliberately defame President Trump.”
Vice President JD Vance also dismissed the controversy, calling it a “fake scandal.”
He wrote: “The Democrats don't care about Epstein. They don’t even care about his victims. That's why they were silent about it for years. The only thing they care about is concocting another fake scandal like Russiagate to smear President Trump with lies. No one is falling for this BS.”
While Trump’s team insists the signature is fraudulent, critics have pointed to similar writing samples.
Contemporary authenticated letters — such as one Trump sent to radio host Larry King in 1999 and another to Hillary Clinton in 2000 — show nearly identical signatures to the one in the alleged birthday card.
Wall Street Journal reporter Joe Palazzolo even compared Trump’s past signatures to the one in the Epstein note, highlighting the similarities after being named in the president’s lawsuit.
A spokesperson for Dow Jones defended the reporting: “We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting.”
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