President Donald Trump may be known for talking endlessly to reporters, but when the subject turned to Jeffrey Epstein this week, the chatter stopped cold. On Tuesday, NBC News managed to get the president on the phone and hit him with a question about a scandalous note he allegedly wrote for Epstein’s 50th birthday. Trump’s reply? A sudden retreat: “I don’t comment on something that’s a dead issue.”
The note in question isn’t just any scribble. According to documents released by House Democrats, Epstein’s estate handed over a page from his notorious birthday book. On it, Trump had allegedly scrawled a doodle of a woman and a line about a “wonderful secret.” The image was tucked alongside messages from Epstein’s friends in a scrapbook meant to celebrate his milestone birthday back in 2003.
This is disturbing, disgusting, and extremely troubling.
Trump didn’t just leave a salacious note in Epstein’s Birthday Book – he added a lewd drawing, then lied about it for years.
If he lied about this, what else is he hiding?
The full Epstein files must be released now. pic.twitter.com/h2lHhPOlQW
— Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (@CongressmanRaja) September 8, 2025
The White House is furiously denying the note’s authenticity. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt blasted the story as “fake” and pointed the finger squarely at the Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the document in July. “The latest piece published by the Wall Street Journal PROVES this entire ‘Birthday Card’ story is false,” she declared, doubling down that Trump “did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it.”
Leavitt even vowed legal retaliation, warning that Trump will “continue to aggressively pursue litigation” against Rupert Murdoch and the Journal over the reporting. The president himself previously told reporters the card didn’t exist at all, so NBC’s surprise phone call on Tuesday seemed to catch him off guard. His short, clipped refusal to answer marked a rare moment of silence from a man who usually thrives on sparring with the press.
So Republicans think that someone forged Trump’s signature on a letter 22 years ago before Epstein was ever accused, gave it to Ghislaine Maxwell who put it in a book 14 years before Trump ran for President? For what? Why? pic.twitter.com/f1YtXlNZOX
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) September 9, 2025
Democrats, meanwhile, aren’t letting it drop. They’ve been steadily releasing excerpts of Epstein-related materials from the estate, part of a broader push to investigate Trump’s ties to the disgraced financier. The birthday note, paired with a crude sketch, has become one of the most explosive pieces of evidence so far. Though it doesn’t allege any direct crime, the idea that Trump contributed such a message to Epstein’s private scrapbook is fueling outrage and curiosity on Capitol Hill.
Critics argue the White House’s aggressive denials only raise more questions. Why, they ask, would Epstein’s estate fabricate a note attributed to Trump? And if the card was a hoax, why would Democrats risk credibility by releasing it publicly? Supporters of the president, however, are dismissing the entire episode as a smear campaign timed to derail his second-term agenda.
WOW. Epstein’s birthday book shows him and a longtime Mar-a-Lago member joking about selling a “fully depreciated” woman to Donald Trump for $22,500.
We’ve only just begun to understand Trump’s ties to Epstein.
Release the files! pic.twitter.com/9U6ZwoX0iG
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) September 8, 2025
For now, Trump’s strategy seems to be digging in legally while avoiding the press trap. By labeling it a “dead issue,” he’s signaling that he won’t add fuel to the fire. But the unanswered question lingers: what’s the truth behind the doodle and the “wonderful secret” message?
As the tug-of-war over Epstein’s archives drags on, one thing is clear: even years after the financier’s death, his shadow keeps reaching into the halls of power. And for Donald Trump, who has rarely been shy about defending himself, this sudden silence might be the loudest sound yet.
