President Donald Trump is now leaning on testimony from convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell as he tries to breathe new life into his massive $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal over its reporting on an alleged lewd birthday letter sent to Jeffrey Epstein.
The legal move adds another explosive twist to Trump’s long-running effort to distance himself from Epstein, the disgraced financier whose crimes and powerful social circle continue to haunt some of the most recognizable names in American public life.
Trump refiled the lawsuit Wednesday after a federal judge tossed out his first attempt in April, ruling that the president had not done enough to show “actual malice,” the high legal bar public officials must clear in defamation cases.
Now, Trump’s lawyers are trying a new angle.
In the updated complaint, they argue that the Journal acted with actual malice by failing to include Maxwell’s statement that she did not remember Trump sending the alleged birthday letter. That statement came during Maxwell’s controversial interview last July with then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
“Indeed, Maxwell has stated, subject to penalty of perjury for lying to a federal officer, that she did not remember President Trump submitting a letter for Epstein’s 50th birthday,” Trump’s lawsuit says.
The problem, however, is the timeline.
The Wall Street Journal article said Maxwell did not respond to a written interview request sent to her in prison. Even more importantly, Maxwell’s sit-down with Blanche reportedly happened about a week after the Journal published its story about the alleged letter.
That makes Trump’s argument especially striking. His legal team is accusing the newspaper of leaving out information that, based on the timeline, may not have even existed yet in the form they are now citing.
The Journal’s report centered on a birthday album Maxwell allegedly helped assemble for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003. The article described a lewd letter and nude sketch allegedly bearing Trump’s signature. Trump has denied writing it.
The revived lawsuit claims the Journal either spoke to Maxwell and intentionally ignored what she said, or failed to contact her despite knowing she was allegedly involved in collecting birthday messages from Trump and other Epstein associates.
Trump’s attorneys also argue that the paper acted recklessly by not explaining how it obtained the letter and by failing to properly verify its contents.
For Trump, the stakes are enormous. To win a defamation case as a public figure, he must show the Journal either knew the information was false or published it with reckless disregard for the truth.
That is a notoriously difficult standard to meet.
But the political optics may be just as damaging as the legal fight itself.
Trump is now invoking Maxwell, a woman convicted of helping Epstein recruit and groom teenage girls, as part of his attempt to attack the credibility of a major newspaper. Maxwell was sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in prison for sex trafficking and related crimes connected to Epstein’s abuse operation.
During her nine-hour interview with Blanche, Maxwell was asked directly whether she remembered Trump submitting a letter, card, or note for Epstein.
“I don’t,” she replied.
She also said she did not remember specific names of people who contributed to the birthday album.
That interview has already generated intense public suspicion. Maxwell was later moved to Federal Prison Camp Bryan, a low-security facility sometimes described as “Club Fed,” despite longstanding federal policy generally barring sex offenders from being housed in such relaxed prison environments.
The transfer came just one week after her interview with Blanche, fueling questions about whether Maxwell was receiving unusually favorable treatment.
Trump has repeatedly insisted he knew nothing about Epstein’s crimes, even though the two men socialized for years and were photographed together with Maxwell. Trump has worked aggressively to separate himself from both Epstein and Maxwell as Democrats and critics continue to press for more transparency around the Epstein files.
The White House referred questions about the lawsuit to Trump’s personal attorneys. They did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Maxwell’s lawyer also did not immediately respond.
For now, Trump’s refiled lawsuit puts him in the remarkable position of using Ghislaine Maxwell’s memory, or lack of one, as a weapon in his battle against the press.
And in a political era already defined by scandal, secrecy, and the still-unanswered questions surrounding Jeffrey Epstein’s world, that may only make the story more explosive.
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One thing in common with every thing Don Trumpedo does in all his legal dealings is he lies and gets others to swear by it.
If she backs his lies, she’ll get a pardon.