Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday greeting album

Last updated

The First Fifty Years
The First Fifty Years.jpg
Spine of The First Fifty Years
Editor Ghislaine Maxwell
Publication date
September 8, 2025
Pages238

In 2003, the friends and acquaintances of American financier Jeffrey Epstein—who would later, in 2008, be convicted of sexual offenses against minors [1] —gave him a bound album with personalized greetings for his 50th birthday, entitled The First Fifty Years. [2] [3] The album was assembled by Epstein's close friend, Ghislaine Maxwell, with help from assistants. She asked for "drawings, photos or stories" from associates of Epstein. [4] [3]

Contents

The existence of the book was first reported in a July 2025 article by The Wall Street Journal . The article also detailed a letter from the book that was allegedly written and signed by Donald Trump, the U.S. president at the time the article was published; the letter was described as featuring a hand-drawn outline of a naked girl and ending with the valediction "may every day be another wonderful secret". The article was published at a time when Trump's former relationship with Epstein was coming under heavy scrutiny. Trump denied the legitimacy of the letter and filed a $10 billion lawsuit. The book also features a letter attributed to former U.S. president Bill Clinton. The contents of the book were made public by the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in September 2025. [5]

Contents

In her introduction to the album, Ghislaine Maxwell wrote that she had intended to "gather stories and old photographs to jog your memory about places, people and different events. Some of the letters will definitely achieve their intended goal—some well... you will have to read them to see for yourself." [6]

The Wall Street Journal described many of the birthday greetings as "anodyne" but wrote that other were "bawdy and made crude jokes about sex". [4] Multiple digital copies of the album have been created. The album has been reviewed by officials from the United States Justice Department during their investigation into Epstein and his sex trafficking scandals. [4] In August 2025, The New York Times published letters sent to Epstein for his 63rd birthday in 2016. [7]

Partial list of contributors

Contributors to the album were sorted into the groups "Family", "Brooklyn", "Business", "Girlfriends", "Children", "Friends", "Science", "Girl-Friends", "Special Assistants" and "The Next 50 Years". [4] [5]

Letter attributed to Donald Trump Donald Trump message in Jeffrey Epstein 50th birthday book.png
Letter attributed to Donald Trump

The letter attributed to Donald Trump was framed by the outline of a naked girl with several lines of typewritten text imagining a conversation between the pair, [8] with them implying something that's "more to life than having everything." They agree they "have certain things in common," with Trump ending his birthday letter saying "may every day be another wonderful secret." The Wall Street Journal described the drawing as "[appearing] to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker. A pair of small arcs denotes the female's breasts, and [Trump's] signature is a squiggly 'Donald' below her waist, mimicking pubic hair". [8] After Epstein's estate provided a copy of the album to Congress, the Journal published a copy of the letter with the drawing and Trump's signature. [9]

Leon Black contributed a "handwritten poem with a rhyme scheme" which included the acronym "V.F.P.C." which stood for "Vanity Fair Poster Child". This was in reference to a profile of Epstein that was being written for the magazine. [4] The poem contained the lines "Blonde, Red or Brunette, spread out geographically/With this net of fish, Jeff’s now The Old Man and The Sea ". He signed the poem "Love and kisses, Leon". [4]

Bill Clinton wrote "It's reassuring isn't it, to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing, adventures and errors, and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends". [4] Alan Dershowitz's contribution was a pretend Vanity Unfair magazine cover "with mock headlines". [4] Nathan Myhrvold sent photographs from a recent trip to Africa that he had taken which "seemed more appropriate than anything I could put in words". The photographs included "a monkey screaming, lions and zebras mating, and a zebra with its penis visible". [4]

Vera Wang's contribution suggested they go on a shopping trip and joked about Epstein appearing on The Bachelor television series. [4] Les Wexner's letter had a "line drawing of what appeared to be a woman's breasts" alongside a short message. [4] Mortimer Zuckerman's letter joked about having looked for information on Epstein in the New York Daily News , of which he was part owner, and said that Epstein was "born in Liechtenstein and had a wife and three children". [4] Martin Nowak contributed several pages referring to his work on the evolution of language and evolutionary dynamics. [10] Other contributors include Jean-Luc Brunel [4] , James Cayne, [4] Jeffrey's brother Mark Epstein, [4] Murray Gell-Mann, [6] Alan C. Greenberg [4] and Peter Mandelson. [11]

Release

The existence of the album was made public in July 2025 with the publication of an article in The Wall Street Journal titled "Jeffrey Epstein's Friends Sent Him Bawdy Letters for a 50th Birthday Album. One Was From Donald Trump." The article was published amidst the maelstrom surrounding Trump's relationship with Epstein in the summer of 2025. [8] A second article, titled "Jeffrey Epstein's Birthday Book Included Letters From Bill Clinton, Leon Black" was published on July 25, 2025. [4] The full album was released and published online in September 2025 by United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. [5]

Reactions

Several contributors reacted to the publication of TheWall Street Journal articles on the album in July 2025. Many contributors had since disavowed and publicly regretted their relationship with Epstein. [4]

Myhrvold said he did not recall his submission and that he "regularly shares photos of and writes about animal behavior" as a wildlife photographer. [4] Trump disowned the letter prior to publication of the Wall Street Journal article in 2025, saying that "This is not me. This is a fake thing. It's a fake Wall Street Journal story" and that he "never wrote a picture in my life. I don't draw pictures of women ... It's not my language. It's not my words". [8] Trump subsequently sued the Wall Street Journal's publisher, Dow Jones, parent company News Corp and their executives, and the reporters of the article for $10 billion in damages. [12] Black, Clinton and Wexner declined to comment. [4] Zuckerman and Wang did not respond to requests for comment. [4] Dershowitz could not recall his contribution. [4]

Members of the United States House of Representatives Ro Khanna and Robert Garcia requested a copy of the book by August 10, 2025, as they deemed it essential to their congressional oversight of the Epstein controversy and the Trump administration. [13] On September 8, 2025, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a letter matching a description of the one that was allegedly signed by Trump. [14] [15] That evening, Representative Jasmine Crockett emphasized on CNN that the material had come from the Epstein estate, not from a partisan source. [16] Upon the release of the album, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied that Trump drew the image, further stating that his "legal team will continue to aggressively pursue litigation". [17] Donald Trump also told NBC News that the letter was a "dead issue". [18]

Peter Mandelson, who was the British Ambassador to the United States when the book became public, was dismissed from his position by the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on September 11. [19] A day before that, further communication between Mandelson and Epstein was published, and the content of the information showed a supportive attitude from Mandelson to Epstein. [20] Although Starmer supported Mandelson during the Prime Minister's Questions of the same day, he dismissed him on the following day. [21] [22] After the dismissal, Minister of State for North America Stephen Doughty said, "the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment. In light of that, and mindful of the victims of Epstein's appalling crimes, he has been withdrawn as ambassador with immediate effect." [22]

References

  1. ↑ Grant, Trac (September 9, 2025). "The Epstein Files: A Timeline". Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved September 9, 2025. In 2008 Epstein pleaded guilty to two state charges: soliciting prostitution and soliciting prostitution from a minor. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison...
  2. ↑ Crisp, Elizabeth (September 9, 2025). "House Releases Jeffrey Epstein Book: What's In It". The Hill . Retrieved September 9, 2025. The House Oversight Committee on Monday released a much-discussed, leather-bound book compiled by Jeffrey Epstein's ex-girlfriend and co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003, providing new insight into the disgraced financier's social circles before he faced charges related to sex trafficking minors.
  3. 1 2 Holmes, Oliver; Ganguly, Manisha (September 9, 2025). "Epstein 50th Birthday Book: Who Is In It and What Did They Say?". The Guardian . Retrieved September 9, 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Safdar, Khadeeja; Palazzolo, Joe (July 25, 2025). "Jeffrey Epstein's Birthday Book Included Letters From Bill Clinton, Leon Black". The Wall Street Journal . Archived from the original on July 25, 2025. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (September 8, 2025). "Oversight Committee Releases Records Provided by the Epstein Estate, Chairman Comer Provides Statement" (press release). Washington, DC: U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved September 9, 2025.
  6. 1 2 Enrich, David; Goldstein, Matthew; Silver-Greenberg, Jessica; Eder, Steve (July 24, 2025). "Trump's Name Is on Contributor List for Epstein Birthday Book". The New York Times . Archived from the original on July 26, 2025. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  7. ↑ Enrich, David; Goldstein, Matthew; Silver-Greenberg, Jessica; Eder, Steve (August 3, 2025). "Inside Jeffrey Epstein's Manhattan Townhouse: Birthday Letters, First Edition 'Lolita' and More". The New York Times . Archived from the original on August 5, 2025. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Safdar, Khadeeja; Palazzolo, Joe (July 17, 2025). "Jeffrey Epstein's Friends Sent Him Bawdy Letters for a 50th Birthday Album. One Was From Donald Trump". The Wall Street Journal . Archived from the original on July 25, 2025. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
  9. ↑ Safdar, Khadeeja; Palazzolo, Joe (September 8, 2025). "Exclusive: Epstein Birthday Letter With Trump's Signature Revealed". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 8, 2025.
  10. ↑ Betts, Anna (August 5, 2025). "Epstein scandal broadens as trove of letters from famous figures published". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved September 14, 2025.
  11. ↑ Saad, Nardine (September 8, 2025). "US lawmakers release Epstein 'birthday book' with alleged Trump note". BBC News. Retrieved September 9, 2025.
  12. ↑ Stanage, Niall (July 25, 2025). "5 unanswered questions around Trump and the Epstein saga". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  13. ↑ Gambino, Lauren (July 26, 2025). "Democrats request copy of Epstein 'birthday book' that reportedly contains Trump poem". The Guardian . Retrieved July 25, 2025.
  14. ↑ Gold, Michael (September 8, 2025). "Congress Obtains Drawing for Epstein Apparently Signed by Trump" . The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 8, 2025. Retrieved September 8, 2025.
  15. ↑ Price, Michelle L. (September 8, 2025). "Trump note to Epstein that he denies signing is released by Congress". AP News. Retrieved September 8, 2025.
  16. ↑ Townsend, Corey (September 9, 2025). "Jasmine Crockett Has Simple Question For Trump After 'Crazy' Epstein Signature Defense". HuffPost. Retrieved September 9, 2025.
  17. ↑ Schneid, Rebecca (September 9, 2025). "A Look at the Letters Inside Epstein's 'Birthday Book'". Time . Retrieved September 9, 2025.
  18. ↑ Haake, Garrett; Lebowitz, Megan (September 9, 2025). "Trump calls Epstein birthday letter a 'dead issue'". NBC News. Retrieved September 9, 2025.
  19. ↑ "Sir Keir Starmer sacks Peter Mandelson as UK's ambassador to US over Jeffrey Epstein ties". Sky News. Retrieved September 12, 2025.
  20. ↑ Mason, Rowena (September 10, 2025). "'Your friends love you,' Mandelson told Epstein after 2008 charges, emails show". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved September 12, 2025.
  21. ↑ "Starmer facing pressure over Mandelson's Epstein links". www.bbc.com. September 10, 2025. Retrieved September 12, 2025.
  22. 1 2 "Sir Keir Starmer sacks Peter Mandelson as UK's ambassador to US over Jeffrey Epstein ties". Sky News. Retrieved September 12, 2025.
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