US President Donald Trump says The Wall Street Journal and its billionaire owner Rupert Murdoch want to settle his defamation lawsuit against the newspaper.

Trump sued the Journal and its owners, including Murdoch, earlier in July over a story that alleged Trump’s name was on a birthday greeting for late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, that included a sexually suggestive drawing and a reference to shared secrets.

“I’ve been treated badly by The Wall Street Journal. I would have assumed that Rupert Murdoch controls it, but, you know, maybe does, maybe doesn’t,” Trump said aboard Air Force One, in comments carried by cable news network News Nation.

“They are talking to us about doing something but we’ll see what happens. Maybe they would like us to drop that, so we’ll see… yeah, they’re having, they want to settle it.

“When I get treated unfairly, I do things about it.”

Trump’s lawsuit called the alleged birthday greeting “fake” and said the Journal published its article to harm his reputation.

In a court filing on Monday (local time), Trump asked a US court to order a swift deposition for Murdoch.

Trump’s lawyers argued that Murdoch should be asked to depose swiftly, noting that he was 94 and “is believed to have suffered recent significant health scares”.

The Wall Street Journal did not immediately respond to a request for comment.