In a moment that felt more like a dodge than a denial, President Donald Trump flat-out refused to answer a reporter’s question about a lewd birthday message he allegedly wrote to Jeffrey Epstein — the convicted sex offender with whom Trump has long denied having a close relationship.
NBC News reached out to Trump on Tuesday by phone, asking directly about the alleged note sent to Epstein for his 50th birthday. The card in question — recently released to House Democrats by Epstein’s estate — features a crude doodle of a woman, a handwritten message, and a cryptic reference to a “wonderful secret.”
Trump’s response? Stonewall.
“I don’t comment on something that’s a dead issue,” he told NBC. “I gave all comments to the staff. It’s a dead issue.”
Not long ago, Trump claimed the note didn’t even exist. Now, with it out in the open, he’s calling it a “dead issue” and ducking follow-up questions.
The White House is questioning the note’s authenticity. Aides insist it’s fake, a political smear job designed to damage the president during the thick of election season.
Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt doubled down in a statement Monday: “The latest piece published by the Wall Street Journal PROVES this entire ‘Birthday Card’ story is false,” Leavitt said. “As I have said all along, it’s very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it.”
She also warned that the president is gearing up for a legal fight, threatening to go after Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal, which first broke details of the note back in July.
“Trump would continue to aggressively pursue litigation,” Leavitt wrote.
Still, the timing of the note’s release — and Trump’s flat refusal to talk about it — raises questions that aren’t going away anytime soon.
If it’s fake, why not say that clearly and directly? If it’s real, what exactly was the “wonderful secret” Trump referred to?
The Epstein connection has haunted Trump for years. Photos, flight logs, and social circles have placed them together numerous times in the ’90s and early 2000s. Trump once famously said Epstein “likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.” That quote has resurfaced countless times, especially as more Epstein-related documents continue to see daylight.
And with Trump refusing to answer questions head-on, it doesn’t look like this story is going to die off anytime soon.
