NEW YORK — Donald Trump on Monday asked a U.S. judge to order a swift deposition for billionaire Rupert Murdoch in the U.S. president’s defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal over its July 17 article about Trump’s relationship with the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Republican president on July 18 sued the Journal, its owners including Murdoch, and the reporters who wrote the story asserting Trump’s name was on a 2003 birthday greeting for Epstein that included a sexually suggestive drawing and a reference to secrets they shared.

In a court filing on Monday, lawyers for Trump asked the federal court in Miami, Florida to compel Murdoch, 94, to testify within 15 days, in part due to his advanced age.

Dow Jones, the Journal’s publisher, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Dow Jones has said the Journal stood by its reporting and would vigorously defend against the lawsuit.

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(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)