The Wall Street Journal has a decades-old reputation as a conservative newspaper, and it’s owned by Rupert Murdoch, who has a similar reputation. But that doesn’t mean Donald Trump likes them, especially after a great deal of negative coverage of his tariff plans, including an editorial that accused Trump of carrying out “the dumbest trade war in history.”
That came to a head over the weekend, when the president confronted a reporter from the Journal aboard Air Force One.
The reporter asked Trump about potential talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, to which he replied, “That’s what I thought. Boy, you people treat us so badly. Wall Street Journal has truly gone to hell. Go ahead, yeah. Rotten newspaper. You hear me? What I said? It’s a rotten newspaper.”
BREAKING: Trump just lost it with a reporter from the Wall Street Journal and had a MELTDOWN on Air Force One.
Watch: This is truly insane. pic.twitter.com/CVuhNTYqeQ
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) May 5, 2025
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After the reporter asked his question, Trump again attacked the paper:
“I wouldn’t tell The Wall Street Journal because it’d be wasting my time. There are talks, but I don’t want to talk to The Wall Street Journal. Look, Wall Street Journal is China-oriented, and they’re really bad for this country.”
The president’s antipathy towards the Journal, especially its editorial page, didn’t stop Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent from publishing an op-ed on that very editorial page on Sunday, titled “Trump’s Three Steps to Economic Growth.”
This is pure unadulterated nonsense from @SecScottBessenthttps://t.co/lbydIKP1r5
— Pradheep J. Shanker, M.D. (@neoavatara) May 5, 2025
“His tariffs, tax cuts, and deregulation efforts make up a coherent strategy to benefit Main Street,” made up Bessent’s “three steps.”
Rupert Murdoch owns the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, the New York Post, and other media properties and is now chairman emeritus of their parent company. Throughout Trump’s political career, he’s had a contentious, up-and-down relationship with the Murdoch media empire, often coming into and out of Murdoch’s favor.
He regularly planted stories, for years, in the Post during his real estate mogul days, and Fox News was key to his early political rise, although he had a high-profile feud with then-anchor Megyn Kelly during the 2016 campaign. And while Fox kept Trump at arm’s length early in the 2024 campaign, relations between the parties smoothed over eventually.
Photo courtesy of X screengrab
