MIKEY SMITH: 7 unhinged Donald Trump moments as he crosses an unthinkable line in Epstein row

Donald Trump last night crossed a line no other President has ever crossed.

And because of all the other things going on, most people are unlikely to notice.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal hit back at the President's complaints over their reporting.

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READ MORE: Donald Trump sues Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch over report on alleged Epstein ties

And there are some very odd things about Trump's lawsuit that might mean it gets ditched very quickly.

Oh, and the White House tried to set up a new conspiracy theory of its own. Unsuccessfully.

Here's all the important things that went on in Trump world last night. Everything is fine.

1. Trump becomes first sitting President to sue a newspaper for defamation

Donald Trump last night filed a lawsuit in Florida, seeking $10 billion in damages from The Wall Street Journal, its publisher Dow Jones and proprietor Rupert Murdoch.

It comes after the Journal published a story describing a sexually suggestive letter that the newspaper says bore Trump’s name and was included in a 2003 album for Epstein’s 50th birthday. Trump denied writing the letter, calling it “false, malicious, and defamatory.”

Last night, Trump posted on Truth Social: "This lawsuit is filed not only on behalf of your favourite President, ME, but also in order to continue standing up for ALL Americans who will no longer tolerate the abusive wrongdoings of the Fake News Media."

Which leads us to the first of a number of interesting things about this lawsuit - it marks the first time a President has ever sued a news outlet for defamation while in office.

It represents a significant crossed line in American democracy, and is worth recording.

2. The Wall Street Journal responded to the lawsuit

A statement from Dow Jones and Company, the Wall Street Journal's publisher, reads: "We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit."

3. A weird decision by Trump's legal team means it'll almost certainly get dismissed immediately

Trump's team chose to file the lawsuit in his home state of Florida.

This is a weird decision - not least because the Wall Street Journal is headquartered in New York.

And it almost certainly means the suit will be dismissed within days.

Even if it did make it to court, Trump's lawyers would have to prove there was "actual malice" in the process of publication - meaning the WSJ knowingly lied or recklessly ignored facts. This is a high bar to clear.

But there's another reason. Florida has particularly strict anti-SLAPP protections.

SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation - and effectively means a lawsuit that's more about silencing or intimidating someone than it is about securing damages.

Anti-SLAPP rules are designed to prevent powerful people, companies and public figures suing critics simply to drain their time, money and energy.

Now, Florida takes a dim view of SLAPPs, and allows defendants to file for early dismissal of frivolous court cases.

If the court agrees the suit gets thrown out, usually before "discovery" - where documents and evidence are shared with each side's lawyers.

So not only is Rupert Murdoch unlikely to ever take the stand, as Trump has been fantasising about - it's likely Trump's team will have to pay the WSJ's expenses.

4. Trump had another lawsuit thrown out yesterday

Trump had been trying to sue veteran journalist Bob Woodward and his publisher Simon and Schuster for copyright infringement relating to Woodward's audiobook, The Trump Tapes.

The book contained audio of Woodward's interviews with Trump over the course of his first term in office.

Trump sought $50m in damages, claiming the audio was "protected material, subject to various limitations on use and distribution."

Woodward and his publisher said the lawsuit was without merit - and in an 81-page ruling yesterday, a federal judge agreed.

The president, the judge said, had failed to "plausibly" establish that Trump was joint author of the audiobook.

5. Trump ignored questions about Epstein

Never one to shy away from press questions, eyebrows were raised when it was announced Trump would go ahead with the public bill-signing for his crypto Act last night.

But on his way out, Trump was asked whether he "sent the letter" and whether he had told Attorney General Pam Bondi to "release the full files", he did an uncharacteristically silent walk-off.

https://x.com/atrupar/status/1946291385805479991

6. The White House tried to start a conspiracy theory of its own

Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, has a new story that the White House would much rather people were talking about.

She "published" a bunch of previously sealed documents that, she says, prove that before Trump was elected, the intelligence community was pretty satisfied that Russia wasn't trying to interfere in US elections.

Only after a secret meeting between Barack Obama and some intelligence aides, after Trump won, was their tune changed - which led, eventually to the investigations, court cases and imprisonment of many Trump aides and allies.

None of the above is true.

First of all, the files she's released don't say what she says they do.

She's conflate two things: Russia being able to literally change the election result by vote tampering and hacking, and Russia seeking to disrupt or influence the result using propaganda and hacking and leaking of campaign information.

The documents released are pretty consistent throughout that Russia probably didn't try to do the first thing, but that they almost certainly were doing the second thing.

The "smoking gun" - a report on Russian activities during the campaign which President Obama apparently ordered re-done, with more detail and focus on the influence campaign - is still pretty consistent with the view of the Intelligence Community expressed before the election.

But, of course, Gabbard went on (who else?) Fox News' Sean Hannity's show last night and went on at length about how the documents show something they don't.

And despite the conspiracy theorist's first rule being "do your own research"... we imagine most people won't read the documents.

Here they are though, in case you fancy it. They're a good read and lay out pretty starkly how badly Putin wanted Trump to be President the first time around, and the lengths he went to to make sure that happened.

7. Meanwhile, Melania posted a curious extract from her book

Melania Trump last night posted an extract of her book on Twitter.

The extract - the first text passage she's posted from her book, which was published almost a year ago - concerns the first time she met Donald Trump, at a party at the Kit Kat Club during New York Fashion Week in 1998.

It's unclear why she chose now to publish this particular extract.