Steve Bannon has launched a fiery counterattack over the Wall Street Journal’s explosive report tying President Donald Trump to a vulgar birthday gift allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein—calling it part of a calculated Rupert Murdoch-led plot to destroy Trump’s presidency.
Speaking on his War Room podcast just hours before Trump filed a staggering $10 billion libel suit against the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, Rupert Murdoch, and the reporters behind the piece, Bannon pulled no punches.
“The Murdochs hate Trump. They want him gone,” Bannon said. “Last night, we saw it in all its ugliness.”
He claimed that the Journal is the “neoliberal neocon” weapon in Murdoch’s media arsenal—used specifically to target Trump—unlike Fox News, which he called “for RINOs,” and the New York Post, which he described as “more populist.”
Bannon alleged that senior sources close to Trump confirmed the letter was fabricated, and described the article as a coordinated “kill shot” designed to humiliate the president and fracture his support base.
“This was meant to destroy him. A phony letter. A phony drawing. A phony message,” Bannon insisted, referencing the WSJ’s report that Trump once sent Epstein a typewritten birthday letter featuring a naked sketch and the message, ‘Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.’
In response, Trump slammed the report as “false, malicious, defamatory” and vowed revenge—not just in the court of public opinion, but in a court of law.
The libel suit, filed in the Southern District of Florida and obtained by DailyMail.com, seeks damages, punitive compensation, and a jury trial. In a Truth Social post, Trump called it a “POWERHOUSE Lawsuit” and mocked the Journal as a “useless rag.”
“This lawsuit is filed not only on behalf of your favorite President, ME, but also for ALL Americans tired of the Fake News Media,” he wrote. “I hope Rupert and his friends are looking forward to many hours of depositions.”
Trump has denied ever drawing the image or writing the message, saying bluntly:
“I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women. It’s not my language. It’s not my words.”
According to the Journal, the letter appeared in a 2003 birthday album compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell. The alleged drawing, done in marker, included two arcs representing breasts and Trump’s squiggled signature in the pubic region of the sketch, mimicking hair.
The Journal claims the note included lines like: “We have certain things in common, Jeffrey,” and “There must be more to life than having everything.”
Bannon urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all Epstein-related documents and double down against the “deep state media complex.”
“Trump is at his best when he’s on the attack,” Bannon said, teasing that Rupert Murdoch may soon be forced to testify. “He dodged Dominion, but he won’t dodge this.”
This legal salvo marks a new front in Trump’s second-term war on legacy media. It’s not just about refuting a lewd birthday sketch—it’s about reclaiming control of the narrative and punishing those who challenge it.
And for Trump’s team, the message is clear: the Murdochs are now the enemy, and Epstein’s ghost may have just reignited a media civil war.