Trump, who filed the federal suit in Miami, is accusing the paper and its owner of libel related to an article published Thursday that alleges the president wrote a “bawdy” message to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003 for the disgraced financier’s birthday.

U.S. President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit on Friday against Dow Jones, News Corp , Rupert Murdoch and two Wall Street Journal reporters, raising claims under federal libel law, court records show.

The Justice Department said unsealing grand jury transcripts related to Epstein's case is necessary given "longstanding and legitimate" public interest in the case.

Trump on Friday sued Murdoch, Dow Jones and News Corp in the latest example of the president looking to chill the press with lawsuits. Broadcasters CBS and ABC each paid $16mn to settle lawsuits with Trump, successes that he alluded to in his threats against Murdoch and the WSJ.

In a move that many worry will open a door to public reprisal by President Donald Trump and potentially spark violence from his allies, a federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit that sought to stop the administration from publicly naming FBI agents who investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Sean Hannity's effusive praise of Trump was outmatched by his deafening silence on the lawsuit Trump had just filed against Hannity's boss.