Trump, Murdoch, Epstein and MAGA: Bannon predicts firestorm, but it's not clear who will get burnt
The president phoned Murdoch in an effort to kill the story, but the Journal published nevertheless. Trump denounced it as fake and sued Murdoch for a minimum claim of $US10 billion for defamation. It would be 'an interesting experience' to get Murdoch into the witness box, said the president.
But, to Bannon, it was not a problem. It was an opportunity. 'The real enemy has revealed itself,' he exclaimed. Immediately, he rallied the MAGA movement in defence of Trump. And in pursuit of Murdoch: 'This was a kill shot by Murdoch,' Bannon tells me in a Monday phone call, meaning a political hit rather than a kinetic one. 'All of MAGA will rally around because of the attack on President Trump,' he predicted.
'This is going to blow up the Murdoch empire in the US. People will turn on him. Already, the streaming services have a bigger audience than Fox News' – the Murdoch cable TV channel which created the far-right-wing ecosystem to incubate Trump's first presidential candidacy.
'Their audience will turn against Murdoch for trying to smear the president of the US. Besides, President Trump is suing him for $10 billion. The Achilles' heel of the Murdoch empire is Murdoch.'
Trump and Murdoch have had ructions over the years, but the two men have maintained a cordial relationship. Indeed, Trump entertained Murdoch in his box at the FIFA Club World Cup final five days before the WSJ story ran.
But why would Murdoch unleash a political 'kill shot' against the president only six months into a four-year term? Bannon has two explanations – one immediate and one larger.
The immediate reason, he says, was to deflect attention from an imminent news event. On Friday, US time, the day after the WSJ 's story ran, Trump's director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was due to release an investigation into the claims of Russian interference in the 2016 election. She duly did.
Gabbard sought to discredit the US intelligence community's finding that Vladimir Putin had meddled to harm Hillary Clinton's campaign and to help Trump's. Gabbard accused Obama administration officials of 'treasonous conspiracy' in confecting the claims of Russian interference and referred documents to the Justice Department for possible investigation.
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The WSJ published story of the Trump letter 'to thwart the Tulsi Gabbard files,' says Bannon.
But why would Murdoch and his newspaper want to do that? Because Murdoch is in league with the so-called 'deep state', the career officers of the US intelligence agencies. 'It's the deep state, with their media partners, led by Murdoch, that's out to destroy Trump,' Bannon told The Washington Post.
Murdoch and the intelligence services want to foment suspicions that Trump was involved with Epstein's sex-trafficking ring, he says. 'Epstein is tied to the intelligence services.' I ask Bannon outright whether, if there is a list of Epstein clients, he thinks Trump might be on it. 'Zero chance,' he replies.
'The No.1 thing we have to do now is to take down the deep state,' he tells me. 'Who governs us?' He cites the two attempts to assassinate Trump last year. 'The FBI hasn't released all its files,' he says, implying possible complicity.
'Who governs this country? The intelligence agencies, the CIA, Mossad, the FBI, the Five Eyes?' The Five Eyes is an intelligence-sharing arrangement that sprang up in World War II between five allies – the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
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'Who governs your country?' he poses to me, hinting that a conspiracy of the five countries' intelligence agencies might secretly control Australia as well as the US. 'This is of vital importance to Australia too. Do elections mean anything? This is bigger than Watergate.' He has no answers, but many questions.
Bannon gave Trump a way out of his MAGA crisis – he urged the president to order Bondi to ask the courts to release any 'pertinent' Epstein testimony held under seal – and the president took it.
Bannon says, approvingly, that 'it's a dramatic first step – it's going to be a firestorm'. But he demands that Trump go further by appointing a special counsel to investigate the Epstein case. So the pressure remains on the president to restore faith with his base.
But Bannon is confident that MAGA will emerge intact. Besides, there are yet more enemies to be confronted: 'The biggest schism is not the Epstein case, it's with the tech bros.' But that's a conspiracy for another day.
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Last week he threatened heavy new sanctions on Russia and countries that buy its exports unless a peace deal was reached within 50 days, although reaction on financial markets suggested investors were sceptical that he would follow through. On Wednesday, Russia said its forces had captured the settlement of Varachyne in Ukraine's Sumy region, where Putin has ordered his troops to create a buffer zone after Ukraine mounted a shock incursion into Russia last year and held onto a chunk of its territory for months. Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield report. In recent weeks, Russian forces have launched some of their heaviest air attacks of the war, focusing especially on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Ukraine has hit back with attacks of its own, and last month inflicted serious damage on Russia's nuclear-capable strategic bomber fleet by smuggling drones close to air bases deep inside the country. Zelenskiy said earlier this week that the agenda for talks was clear: the return of prisoners of war and of children abducted by Russian forces, and the preparation of a meeting between himself and Putin. Putin turned down a previous challenge from Zelenskiy to meet him in person and has said he does not see him as a legitimate leader because Ukraine, which is under martial law, did not hold new elections when Zelenskiy's five-year mandate expired last year. Russia also denies abducting children. The Kremlin said this week it was unrealistic to expect "miracles" from the talks. At the last meeting on June 2, Russia handed Ukraine a memorandum setting out its key demands, including: full withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from four regions of the country that Russia has claimed as its own; limits on the size of Ukraine's military; enhanced rights for Russian-speakers in Ukraine; and acceptance by Ukraine of neutral status, outside NATO or any other alliance. Ukraine sees those terms as tantamount to surrender, and Zelenskiy described the Russian stance as an ultimatum. Ukraine wants an immediate ceasefire, reparations, international security guarantees and no restrictions on its military strength. Russian and Ukrainian negotiators are set to meet in Istanbul for their first peace talks in more than seven weeks. The Kremlin played down expectations of any breakthrough at the Wednesday evening meeting, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said this week should focus in part on preparing a summit between himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Naturally, no one expects an easy road. Naturally, this will be a very difficult conversation. The projects (of the two sides) are diametrically opposed," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. A Ukrainian diplomatic source said the country would view a Putin-Zelenskiy meeting as the key requirement for a breakthrough. "The Ukrainian delegation has come to Turkey prepared to take significant steps toward peace and a full ceasefire but everything will depend on whether the Russian side is willing to take a constructive approach," the source said. A Turkish foreign ministry source said the meeting at the Ciragan Palace was expected to start with opening remarks to the two delegations by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Previous talks on May 16 and June 2 led to the exchange of thousands of prisoners of war and the remains of dead soldiers. But those meetings lasted less than three hours in total and made no breakthrough towards ending the war that started with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. US President Donald Trump has patched up relations with Zelenskiy after a public row with him at the White House in February, and has lately expressed growing frustration with Putin. Last week he threatened heavy new sanctions on Russia and countries that buy its exports unless a peace deal was reached within 50 days, although reaction on financial markets suggested investors were sceptical that he would follow through. On Wednesday, Russia said its forces had captured the settlement of Varachyne in Ukraine's Sumy region, where Putin has ordered his troops to create a buffer zone after Ukraine mounted a shock incursion into Russia last year and held onto a chunk of its territory for months. Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield report. In recent weeks, Russian forces have launched some of their heaviest air attacks of the war, focusing especially on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Ukraine has hit back with attacks of its own, and last month inflicted serious damage on Russia's nuclear-capable strategic bomber fleet by smuggling drones close to air bases deep inside the country. Zelenskiy said earlier this week that the agenda for talks was clear: the return of prisoners of war and of children abducted by Russian forces, and the preparation of a meeting between himself and Putin. Putin turned down a previous challenge from Zelenskiy to meet him in person and has said he does not see him as a legitimate leader because Ukraine, which is under martial law, did not hold new elections when Zelenskiy's five-year mandate expired last year. Russia also denies abducting children. The Kremlin said this week it was unrealistic to expect "miracles" from the talks. At the last meeting on June 2, Russia handed Ukraine a memorandum setting out its key demands, including: full withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from four regions of the country that Russia has claimed as its own; limits on the size of Ukraine's military; enhanced rights for Russian-speakers in Ukraine; and acceptance by Ukraine of neutral status, outside NATO or any other alliance. Ukraine sees those terms as tantamount to surrender, and Zelenskiy described the Russian stance as an ultimatum. Ukraine wants an immediate ceasefire, reparations, international security guarantees and no restrictions on its military strength. Russian and Ukrainian negotiators are set to meet in Istanbul for their first peace talks in more than seven weeks. The Kremlin played down expectations of any breakthrough at the Wednesday evening meeting, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said this week should focus in part on preparing a summit between himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Naturally, no one expects an easy road. Naturally, this will be a very difficult conversation. The projects (of the two sides) are diametrically opposed," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. A Ukrainian diplomatic source said the country would view a Putin-Zelenskiy meeting as the key requirement for a breakthrough. "The Ukrainian delegation has come to Turkey prepared to take significant steps toward peace and a full ceasefire but everything will depend on whether the Russian side is willing to take a constructive approach," the source said. A Turkish foreign ministry source said the meeting at the Ciragan Palace was expected to start with opening remarks to the two delegations by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Previous talks on May 16 and June 2 led to the exchange of thousands of prisoners of war and the remains of dead soldiers. But those meetings lasted less than three hours in total and made no breakthrough towards ending the war that started with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. US President Donald Trump has patched up relations with Zelenskiy after a public row with him at the White House in February, and has lately expressed growing frustration with Putin. Last week he threatened heavy new sanctions on Russia and countries that buy its exports unless a peace deal was reached within 50 days, although reaction on financial markets suggested investors were sceptical that he would follow through. On Wednesday, Russia said its forces had captured the settlement of Varachyne in Ukraine's Sumy region, where Putin has ordered his troops to create a buffer zone after Ukraine mounted a shock incursion into Russia last year and held onto a chunk of its territory for months. Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield report. In recent weeks, Russian forces have launched some of their heaviest air attacks of the war, focusing especially on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Ukraine has hit back with attacks of its own, and last month inflicted serious damage on Russia's nuclear-capable strategic bomber fleet by smuggling drones close to air bases deep inside the country. Zelenskiy said earlier this week that the agenda for talks was clear: the return of prisoners of war and of children abducted by Russian forces, and the preparation of a meeting between himself and Putin. Putin turned down a previous challenge from Zelenskiy to meet him in person and has said he does not see him as a legitimate leader because Ukraine, which is under martial law, did not hold new elections when Zelenskiy's five-year mandate expired last year. Russia also denies abducting children. The Kremlin said this week it was unrealistic to expect "miracles" from the talks. At the last meeting on June 2, Russia handed Ukraine a memorandum setting out its key demands, including: full withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from four regions of the country that Russia has claimed as its own; limits on the size of Ukraine's military; enhanced rights for Russian-speakers in Ukraine; and acceptance by Ukraine of neutral status, outside NATO or any other alliance. Ukraine sees those terms as tantamount to surrender, and Zelenskiy described the Russian stance as an ultimatum. Ukraine wants an immediate ceasefire, reparations, international security guarantees and no restrictions on its military strength.
