<\/p>\n
The letter Donald Trump allegedly wrote to Jeffrey Epstein for the financier’s 50th birthday in 2003. (X: @OversightDems)<\/p>\n
As described by the Wall Street Journal, it did feature typewritten text and the outline of a woman, drawn in thick marker pen.<\/p>\n
Today the White House denied the letter was real.<\/p>\n
“It’s very clear President Donald Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.<\/p>\n
Real or not, onlookers have noted the alleged letter to Epstein shares similarities to other drawings and correspondence Mr Trump has produced.<\/p>\n
Trump’s history of drawing for charity<\/p>\n
Mr Trump previously said he never “wrote a picture in [his] life”.<\/p>\n
But auction house archives show the US president has, on several occasions, shown off his creative side for a good cause.<\/p>\n
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Julien’s Auctions, which sold this drawing for $US16,000 in 2017, said this was “reportedly donated by Trump to a fundraiser auction in the early 1990s”. (Supplie: Julien’s Auctions)<\/p>\n
Throughout the 2000s, when Mr Trump was better known as “The Donald” than “President”, he donated his work to several charity auctions around the United States.<\/p>\n
His doodles often featured a busy city skyline reminiscent of Manhattan, but sometimes zoomed in on specific landmarks in the city.<\/p>\n
Many of them, like the naked woman on the alleged Epstein letter, were hand-drawn with a marker.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Heritage Auctions described this as a “superior example” of Donald Trump’s drawings. The auction house said this was drawn in 2005 and given to a food pantry service in New York. (Supplied: Heritage Auctions)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When Nate Sanders Auctions sold this drawing for $US29,184 in 2017, they described it as a “very rare” drawing by Donald Trump, “with only a handful of such drawings known”. It was originally contributed to a charity auction in 2005. (Supplied: Nate Sanders Auctions)<\/p>\n
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According to Heritage Auctions, Donald Trump drew this in September 2001 for a charity event in New Jersey. He seemed to be partial to this view of the city \u2014 you’ll notice it’s very similar to the drawing at the top of this article. (Supplied: Heritage Auctions)<\/p>\n
Serif typeface and a signature with a tail<\/p>\n
Today Mr Trump might be known for his sharp posts on social media, but decades ago he favoured a polite typed letter.<\/p>\n
Some of the US President’s correspondence has been published online by auction houses in recent years, and has resurfaced again after the alleged Epstein letter.<\/p>\n
In 1991 he wrote to a prominent gossip columnist to wish her well when she moved from the New York Post to Women’s Wear Daily.<\/p>\n
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In this letter, dated July 1991, Donald Trump praises famous gossip columnist Aileen Mehle. (Supplied: DOYLE)<\/p>\n
Another letter was a 1999 thank you note to Larry King, then one of America’s biggest talk-show hosts, crossing out “Sincerely” and replacing it with “Love, Donald” in bold black marker.<\/p>\n
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This letter was written to thank Larry and Shawn King for sending flowers after Donald Trump’s father, Fred Trump, died in June 1999. (Supplied: Juliens Auctions)<\/p>\n
And in a letter to singer Tony Bennett dated 2000, Mr Trump signed it and added a note in the same bold black marker.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A letter from Donald Trump to Tony Bennett, dated June 2000. (Supplied: Juliens Auctions)<\/p>\n
Some of the letters appear to use a similar typeface to the alleged Epstein letter, as well as a variation on Mr Trump’s signature where the final D of Donald ends with a long tail, rather than writing out “Trump”.<\/p>\n
Questions remain about Epstein letter<\/p>\n
Mr Trump is yet to respond to the publication of the Epstein letter or the comparisons people have drawn between it and his previous work.<\/p>\n
In July, when the Wall Street Journal first reported on the letter’s existence, Mr Trump quickly called it “fake” and launched legal action against the paper.<\/p>\n
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Donald Trump said the Wall Street Journal report was a fake story. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
The letter was posted online overnight by Democrats on the US House Oversight Committee after receiving it from Epstein’s estate.<\/p>\n
The White House denied its authenticity and Vice President JD Vance called it a “fake scandal”.<\/p>\n
The case of Epstein has become a political headache for Mr Trump, who has drawn criticism from both his supporters and opponents for his administration’s handling of the investigation into the financier’s crimes and death in prison.<\/p>\n