The relationship between President Donald Trump and media mogul Rupert Murdoch has taken another dramatic turn. Trump is now suing Murdoch, his company, News Corporation, and the parent company of the Wall Street Journal.
The lawsuit was filed on Friday, following Trump’s earlier posts on social media. True to form, Trump made those posts in bold language.
“I’m going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper,” Trump wrote on Thursday evening.
The next morning, he posted again: “I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his ‘pile of garbage’ newspaper, the WSJ. That will be an interesting experience!!!”
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The lawsuit comes in response to a Wall Street Journal article published Thursday. The story focused on Trump’s connection to Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy financier who died in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges.
According to the Journal, the newspaper uncovered a birthday album made in 2003 for Epstein’s 50th birthday. The album was reportedly put together by Ghislaine Maxwell, who later served 20 years in prison for helping Epstein abuse minors. The Journal said the album included a “bawdy” letter “bearing Trump’s name.” It described the letter as including a hand-drawn outline of a naked woman, ending with the words, “Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
Trump said the letter is not real. “These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures,” he said in a post. While he denied creating the letter, there has been at least one public example of a Trump sketch of the New York skyline being sold for charity.
His lawsuit argues that “the supposed letter is fake and the Defendants knew it when they chose to deliberately defame President Trump.”
Trump also confirmed that he had reached out directly to Murdoch to try to stop the story before it was published.
Trump and Epstein do have a known history. There is old footage of them partying together in the 1990s. In a 2002 New York magazine profile, Trump said Epstein was a “terrific guy” and added that “he’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
Eventually, Trump and Epstein stopped speaking. The reason for their falling out has never been made clear.
Now, Trump finds himself in a legal battle with Murdoch, just five months after praising him in the Oval Office as “in a class by himself” and “an amazing guy.”
There are risks on both sides. Murdoch controls Fox News, which has much more influence over Trump’s base than the Wall Street Journal. If Fox turns on Trump, the political damage could be serious.
But a long fight with Trump could also hurt Murdoch. After the 2020 election, Fox lost viewers to more conservative outlets like Newsmax. In that same period, during the Dominion lawsuit, Murdoch said in an email, “We want to make Trump a nonperson.”
On Friday, Dow Jones, the owner of the Journal, responded to the lawsuit. “We have full confidence in the rigour and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit,” a spokesperson said.
Both sides seem ready to dig in. If the fight continues, it could get even messier.
Featured image via Screengrab
