Was the birthday card that Epstein sent to Trump real?
Executive summary
A page purporting to be a birthday note from Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein — complete with a sketch and a signature-like scrawl — was published by House Democrats after the Epstein estate turned over a 2003 “birthday book” under subpoena, and that reproduced page has been widely reported and displayed in protest art on the National Mall [1] [2] [3]. Whether Trump actually wrote or signed that specific card remains disputed: the White House denies its authenticity and Trump has sued the Wall Street Journal, while members of the Oversight Committee and some observers point to the provenance and apparent signature as supporting authenticity, but no public, definitive forensic ruling has settled the question [4] [5] [6].
1. A document in a subpoenaed scrapbook — the provenance that makes the item “real” on paper
House Democrats released an image of a page from a three-volume bound album presented to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003 after the estate produced those materials in response to a congressional subpoena, and news organizations reported that the page includes a typewritten note framed by a crude outline of a nude figure and a signature that appears to read “Donald J. Trump” [1] [2] [7].
2. Public reaction split between acceptance of the released page and official denials
Many mainstream outlets covered the release and the brouhaha that followed, and activism groups have reproduced the page as protest art on the National Mall; at the same time the White House has categorically denied that Mr. Trump drew or signed the card and the president has called the story a hoax and mounted legal action against the original Wall Street Journal reporting, signaling an aggressive, partisan repudiation of the piece’s authenticity [2] [4] [8].
3. Signature and context under scrutiny but not conclusively adjudicated in public
Supporters of the card’s authenticity point to the document’s chain of custody — coming from Epstein’s estate under subpoena — and to apparent similarities between the signature and known Trump exemplars, while the White House and Trump’s allies insist the handwriting and drawing are not his and frame the release as politically motivated; reporting notes both claims and records public calls for expert handwriting analysis but no public forensic report has been published that provides a final, independent adjudication of authorship [5] [6] [4].
4. What can be said with confidence, and what remains unresolved
It is verifiable that a page purporting to be a birthday note from Trump to Epstein exists inside a scrapbook that was produced to Congress and that image has circulated and been used in public protest [1] [2] [3]; what is not verifiably settled in the public record is whether Donald Trump actually wrote or signed that specific card — a point the White House denies and that prompted litigation and competing political narratives, and one that, as of available reporting, awaits definitive forensic disclosure or court resolution [4] [8] [5].
5. Why the dispute matters beyond a single page
The controversy is not just about a suggestive doodle and a signature: it feeds into broader inquiries over what documents the Epstein estate and federal authorities hold, how those materials were shared with Congress, and how partisan actors use or challenge documentary evidence in a highly polarized environment — context that Republicans on the Oversight Committee have called politicization while Democrats have portrayed the release as necessary transparency tied to serious allegations around Epstein’s conduct [7] [6] [3].