--- title: "Trump sues WSJ over Epstein reporting" description: "☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here! In today’s email: 🔥 Featured story President Donald Trump is suing The Wall Street Journal and its owners, including Rupert Murdoch, for $10 billion. The lawsuit accuses the news organization of defamation over a story it published last week reporting […]" date: "2025-07-24" authors: - name: "jhaner" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/newsletter/the-briefing/trump-sues-wsj-over-epstein-reporting/" --- # Trump sues WSJ over Epstein reporting **☀️ Happy Thursday!** *The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information*.* [**Sign up here!**](https://www.pewresearch.org/sign-up-for-the-briefing/)* **In today*’*s email:** - **Featured story:** Trump sues WSJ over Epstein reporting - **In other news:** CBS to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert - **Looking ahead:** Alden Global-affiliated publisher makes bid to buy The Dallas Morning News - **Chart of the week:** In 2014, one-in-ten online adults used The Colbert Report as a news source 🔥 **Featured story** **President Donald Trump** is [suing The Wall Street Journal](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-sues-wall-street-journal-over-epstein-report-seeks-10-billion-2025-07-19/) and its owners, including **Rupert Murdoch,** for $10 billion. The lawsuit accuses the news organization of defamation over a story it published last week reporting that Trump wrote a suggestive birthday message in 2003 for **Jeffrey Epstein, **who was later convicted of sexual offenses involving children. Since then, [the Journal reported](https://www.wsj.com/politics/justice-department-told-trump-name-in-epstein-files-727a8038?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=ASWzDAh7jUUjVUAad3IZTTwUf6OIByTWz4qyNLfq5-qTitk63xyx1a324Zw8YEucvAM%3D&gaa_ts=68822ac4&gaa_sig=i1-NkHs8UqRZShTGBGZ8WaDGqnTV6kBSV6-UHXn_DAbURTQjn9ME_CT9fMK2JtTg9ckMho02tAcdHM485kiP6A%3D%3D) that in May, **Attorney General Pam Bondi **told Trump that his name appears several times in Epstein investigation documents. **Three-in-ten Americans trust The Wall Street Journal as a source of news – **twice the share who say they distrust it (15%), according to a [recent Pew Research Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/feature/news-media-tracker/the_wall_street_journal). Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they trust the source (37% vs. 23%), although similar shares of Republicans say they trust (23%) The Wall Street Journal as say they distrust (21%) it. 📌 **In other news** - **CBS **[announces decision](https://apnews.com/article/stephen-colbert-late-show-cbs-end-8bad9f16f076df62c0ffc50e9c8adbab) to cancel **Stephen Colbert’s Late Show** amid financial challenges, criticism of **Trump-Paramount settlement** - News agencies say **journalists in Gaza** [facing starvation](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8j1j7n72ywo) - **Google **[rolls out AI summaries](https://www.theverge.com/news/708089/google-discover-ai-summaries-ios-android) in its **Discover news feed**** **and [looking to partner with news orgs](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-22/google-seeks-licensing-talks-with-news-groups-following-ai-rivals?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc1MzIwNDMxOCwiZXhwIjoxNzUzODA5MTE4LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTWlNSVzdHUFdDTUkwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiIxMEJDQkE5REUzM0U0M0M0ODBBNzNCMjFFQzdGQ0Q2RiJ9.XdZ7fhJEsSxAnrOGoBownhcEK9YA58c433XRq3wm6kk&leadSource=uverify%20wall) for a new AI project - **French President Emmanuel Macron **[sues conservative news influencer](https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/french-president-macron-sues-right-wing-podcaster-over-claim-frances-first-lady-2025-07-23/) **Candace Owens** for defamation - **LA Times owner** announces plans to [make the outlet a publicly traded company](https://variety.com/2025/biz/news/los-angeles-times-public-company-1236466507/) - **Cuts to NPR and PBS **will likely hit [rural Americans the hardest](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/07/19/pbs-npr-cpb-cuts-rural/); top **NPR editor** [announces resignation](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/business/media/npr-edith-chapin-steps-down.html) - New study looks at [the types of sources](https://www.axios.com/2025/07/23/ai-bots-news-sources-chatgpt-claude) **AI** **chatbots **are citing - Court [leaves in place](https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-appeals-court-will-not-lift-limits-associated-press-access-white-house-2025-07-22/) **White House** limits on **The Associated Press** - **Washington Post TikTok star **to [go independent](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/business/media/dave-jorgenson-video-washington-post.html) 📅 **Looking ahead** Weeks after [agreeing to an acquisition deal](https://www.hearst.com/-/dallasnews-corporation-to-join-hearst) with Hearst,** The Dallas Morning News** [received a bid](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/business/media/dallas-morning-news-alden-global-capital.html) from MediaNews Group, a newspaper publisher owned by the investment firm **Alden Global Capital.** While MediaNews Group said it would ensure the print edition of The Dallas Morning News continues, the publisher has implemented cost-cutting measures, including [layoffs](https://www.cjr.org/special_report/alden-global-capital-medianews-tribune-company.php), at other newspapers. The Dallas Morning News has experienced many of the same financial difficulties as other local newspapers, [offering voluntary buyouts](https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2023/dallas-morning-news-buyouts-40-jobs-6-percent-reduction/) for some staff in 2023. A majority of Americans said in a [Center survey from last year](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2024/05/07/americans-views-on-the-financial-health-of-local-news/) that they think their local news outlets are doing **very or somewhat well financially.** However, **this share had decreased somewhat in recent years.** At the time of the survey, 63% of U.S. adults said they think their local news outlets are doing very or somewhat well financially, down from 71% who said the same in 2018. *CORRECTION (July 25, 2025): A previous version of this newsletter referred to Alden Global Capital as a hedge fund. It is an investment firm.* 📊 **Chart of the week** After CBS announced the upcoming cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, we look back at [a 2014 Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/12/12/for-some-the-satiric-colbert-report-is-a-trusted-source-of-political-news/) about Colbert's previous show, The Colbert Report. At the time, **one-in-ten U.S. adult internet users said they had gotten news from the show in the past week, **and 15% trusted the show for news. Young men ages 18 to 29 were the most likely to say they got news from and trusted the show. ![Colbert Report Viewers](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/COTW_724.png) *👋 That's all for this week. * The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Jacob Liedke, Christopher St. Aubin, Luxuan Wang, Emily Tomasik, Joanne Haner, and Mary Randolph. It is edited by Michael Lipka and copy edited by Rebecca Leppert. *Do you like this newsletter? Email us at [journalism@pewresearch.org](mailto:journalism@pewresearch.org) or fill out this [two-question survey](https://us1.list-manage.com/survey?u=434f5d1199912232d416897e4&id=449f3c3d35&attribution=false) to tell us what you think*.