Donald Trump filed a defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, the Papers

publisher, two journalists, News Corp, the paper's parent company, and Rupert Murdoch.

At the core of that lawsuit is this piece that the Wall Street Journal published last night.

The piece, based on documents that the journal reviewed, alleges that Trump sent Jeffrey Epstein an incredibly lewd letter on the occasion of Epstein's 50th birthday.

Now, I should say that NBC News has not independently verified the information reported, and Trump, of course, vehemently denies the letter's veracity.

In his newly filed lawsuit, Trump claims that the journal's story

has done billions of dollars in damage to his reputation, and he is seeking $10 billion

in relief. Now, on its own, this story certainly made a splash. However, it's not as if this is

the first story about Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein allegedly

being friends. In 2002, the year before, the journal alleges that Trump wrote that birthday

letter to Epstein, Trump told New York Magazine that Epstein was, quote, a terrific guy

and a lot of fun to be with. He also notably told New York Magazine that Epstein, quote,

"...likes beautiful women as much as I do,

and many of them are on the younger side.

All to say that it is not entirely clear

whether this Wall Street Journal's story

inflicted lasting reputational damage.

But what is clear is that the new lawsuit

has fueled interests in the alleged friendship

between Epstein and Trump, a story that the president has been at great pains to diffuse.

In addition to the lawsuit's request for $10 million in damages, it also seeks a jury trial.

And that could mean that lawyers on both sides would be obliged to prove and disprove the

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