Latest news with #RupertMurdoch
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
TRUMP'S TANTRUM BACKFIRES: Lawsuit is 'the stupidest thing he could have done' says legal expert
Donald Trump's desperate desire to make everyone stop talking about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein has run contrary to his petulance as his lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch for publishing his creepy birthday message to Epstein guarantees new news and developments in the story for the public to discuss for months to come. Former U.S. attorney Harry Litman, and MSNBC senior reporter Brandy Zadrozny discuss Trump's disastrous damage control.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Memo: Trump-Murdoch story takes dramatic new turn with WSJ lawsuit
The tangled and tumultuous relationship between President Trump and media mogul Rupert Murdoch has taken a new, dramatic turn. Trump is suing Murdoch, his company News Corporation and the Wall Street Journal's parent company. The suit was filed on Friday, following through on earlier social media postings from the president. Trump being Trump, he had put the earlier threats in colorful terms. 'I'm going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper,' Trump warned, regarding Murdoch, in a social media post on Thursday evening. On Friday morning, he followed up with another post: '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!!!' The core of the dispute is a story the Journal published on Thursday about Trump's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy financier and sexual predator who died in 2019, seemingly from suicide, while facing sex trafficking charges. The Journal uncovered a birthday album that had apparently been put together for Epstein's 50th birthday, in 2003, by Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell, at one time Epstein's girlfriend, was ultimately sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiring in his abuse of minors. The birthday album, the Journal reported, included a 'bawdy' letter 'bearing Trump's name.' The newspaper wrote that the letter included a hand-drawn outline of a naked woman, and some lines of text concluding 'Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.' Trump contends the letter is a fake, contending in one post, 'These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don't draw pictures.' There has, however, been at least one example of a Trump picture – a basic sketch of the New York skyline – being sold off for charity. Trump's lawsuit contends that 'the supposed letter is fake and the Defendants knew it when they chose to deliberately defame President Trump.' Trump has been forthright about the fact that he contacted Murdoch directly to try to get him to stop publication of the story before it appeared. And it is true that Trump and Epstein have a history. There is footage of the duo partying together in the 1990s and, in 2002, Trump paid tribute to Epstein as a 'terrific guy' in a New York magazine profile of the financier. Trump's quote in the magazine profile also included the observation that Epstein had an eye for women 'and many of them are on the younger side.' Trump and Epstein later ceased contact, though the cause of their falling-out has never been definitively established. In any event, Trump is now embroiled in litigation with Murdoch, having just five months ago praised the media magnate as 'in a class by himself' and 'an amazing guy' in the Oval Office. The court clash creates risks for both men. For Trump, Murdoch is a dangerous enemy. The real peril rests in the possibility of hard jabs being thrown in his direction by Fox News. The cable news channel is a far more powerful conduit to the Trump blue-collar base than the Journal, which has a more upscale audience and has long functioned, in its editorial pages, as a strong advocate for business-friendly, free market policies. Journal editorials have already been critical of Trump's stances on tariffs and his clemency toward people convicted of January 6-related offenses, among other things. But any turn by Fox to offer pointed criticisms of the president could be more electorally damaging for Trump. The reverse is also true, however. Any such shift from Fox would contain massive potential pitfalls for Murdoch as well. Put simply, a prolonged conflict with Trump is just as likely to see Fox get hurt by a loss of viewers as it is to wound Trump. There is precedent here. After the 2020 election, there was serious concern at the network about a loss of viewers to networks further to the right, such as Newsmax. Those concerns were laid bare in the discovery process for the defamation case that Dominion Voting Systems took against Fox over false suggestions of fraud and other chicanery aired by guests on the network. The case was ultimately settled for more than $700 million. In broad terms, viewers loyal to Trump appeared to leave the network because its initial coverage affirmed the validity of President Biden's victory. Critics say internal panic over this dynamic caused Fox to give overly credulous coverage to false claims of election fraud. The Dominion case also revealed Murdoch's hope that the Capitol riot of Jan. 6 had ended Trump's political career. In one email from that period, Murdoch wrote, 'We want to make Trump a nonperson.' Such a shift would have been striking since Fox was to the fore in giving Trump a regular platform in the years when he began his transition into politics. The network's 'Fox and Friends' show had a weekly 'Monday mornings with Trump' segment that began in 2011. It is, of course, possible that tempers will cool between Trump and Murdoch, or that some settlement may be arrived at. But if they keep on their current collision course, sparks are guaranteed to fly. The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump goes to war against 'frenemy' Rupert Murdoch
As the MAGA civil war worsens over the White House's handling of the Epstein files, Donald Trump has set his sights on a new enemy: Rupert Murdoch. Trump is suing the media mogul and his media empire over bombshell reporting from The Wall Street Journal alleging he sent a 'bawdy' birthday letter to the late Jeffrey Epstein. Judge Shira Scheindlin and MSNBC political analyst Susan Del Percio break down Trump's lawsuit.
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
JD Vance visited Murdoch ranch one month before Epstein revelations
JD Vance made a trip to Rupert Murdoch 's Montana ranch one month before his newspaper published that Donald Trump sent Jeffrey Epstein a salacious birthday card. The vice president spoke with the 94-year-old media mogul, his son Lachlan Murdoch and a group of other Fox News executives at the $280 million estate on June 11, sources told the Associated Press around the time of the visit last month. The exact nature of the meeting and Vance's conversation with the group was not disclosed - but it appeared to be brief. Murdoch and other top executives are known for hosting powerful politicians across the summer at their sprawling estates. According to flight restrictions issued by the Federal Aviation Administration, the vice presidential aircraft, Air Force Two, was only on the ground for a matter of hours. It landed in Butte – which is approximately 70 miles from the Murdoch ranch – around 2.30pm, according to NBC Montana. Murdoch bought the 340,000-acre Beaverhead cattle ranch from the billionaire Koch family, which had owned the property for 70 years, in 2021. The ranch, located near Yellowstone National Park, is one of the largest in the state, and has a nearly 28-mile long private trout fishing river and is populated by elk, antelope and mule deer. After the Murdoch meeting, the vice president and his wife, Usha, then took a hike, Montana State Auditor James Brown, who helped plan the trip, told Montana Talks. Air Force Two then departed shortly after nightfall, an airport source told Politico's West Wing Playbook. Murdoch and his media organization have long been friendly with Republicans and the Trump administration. He appeared at Trump's inauguration and was spotted earlier this year in the Oval Office. However, their relationship has appeared to have soured and Trump launched a blistering attack on Murdoch's newspaper the Wall Street Journal. One month after Vance's mysterious meeting, the Journal reported that Trump sent Epstein the card in 2003 as part of a collection collated by Ghislaine Maxwell. Trump has furiously denied the allegations and hit the newspaper and its owner with a $10 billion lawsuit. Trump's lawsuit, obtained by shows the libel suit filed in the Southern District of Florida against WSJ, Dow Jones, Rupert Murdoch and the paper's reporters who published the story in what Trump called a 'powerhouse' suit on Truth Social. Trump is requesting a jury trial and is suing 'for damages, punitive damages, court costs, and such other relief as the Court deems just and proper, not to be less than $10 billion dollars.' A bombshell report in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday claimed Trump wrote a 'bawdy' 50th birthday card to Epstein, which concluded: 'Happy Birthday - and may every day be another wonderful secret.' The newspaper said it had reviewed a typewritten letter bearing Trump's signature, framed by the seemingly hand-drawn outline of a naked woman, that Ghislaine Maxwell included in a 2003 birthday album. In the text, the paper claimed Trump wrote: 'We have certain things in common, Jeffrey' and that both of them know that 'there must be more to life than having everything.' The message is said to have included an X-rated drawing of a naked woman, with Trump's famous signature squiggle written across her genitals to mimic pubic hair. According to the Journal, the naked woman appeared to have been hand-drawn with a marker, with a pair of arcs indicating the woman's breasts and a squiggly signature reading 'Donald' appearing in her pubic region, mimicking hair. 'I never wrote a picture in my life. I don't draw pictures of women,' Trump told the WSJ. 'It's not my language. It's not my words.' Trump has denied writing the letter or drawing the picture, calling it 'false, malicious, and defamatory.' The Wall Street Journal bombshell, which Trump thoroughly denounced on social media, comes amid major MAGA outrage over a DOJ and FBI report published last week indicating no further Epstein-related files will be released. Since then, Republicans in Congress have faced pressure from their constituents to force the DOJ to release the files and conservative influencers have been pressuring lawmakers to act.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Murdoch Tells Trump to Bring It On In Fight Over WSJ's Epstein Story
Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal's parent company, dared President Donald Trump to bring it on after the president launched a $10 billion libel lawsuit against the publication. 'We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting,' a spokesperson for Dow Jones said in a statement. '[We] will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.' Trump filed the suit on Friday, accusing the Murdoch-owned paper of 'glaring failures in journalistic ethics and standards of accurate reporting,' after the publication of a story about a gift Trump supposedly gave Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday. The story detailed letters given to the convicted sex trafficker for his 50th birthday, which reportedly included a signed note from Trump inside a drawing of a naked woman. The note contained the chilling phrase 'may every day be another wonderful secret.' 'Those are not my words,' Trump posted on Truth Social in response to the story. 'Also, I don't draw pictures.' The WSJ has rebutted the latter claim, highlighting numerous images drawn by the president, four of which were auctioned off during his first term. Rupert Murdoch, the Australian media mogul behind Fox News, News Corp, and hundreds of national and international outlets, took ownership of the WSJ in 2007 following the acquisition of Dow Jones & Company. Trump claimed that Murdoch had been personally warned not to print the letter, but he 'did not have the power to do so.' Therefore, the president plans to make good on his promise to 'sue his a** off.' The relationship between the president and the disgraced financier who died in prison in 2019 has ignited an almighty rift in the MAGA support base. The Trump administration's failure to release criminal information on Epstein and his alleged 'client list' has been the focus of intense, recent accusations of a coverup. The latest round of conspiratorial outbursts follows a memo released by the Justice Department earlier this month, which claimed there was no further information to disclose about the Epstein case. Trump has since been on the warpath, attempting to quell the rebellion and silence his critics, who believe that the Epstein files are a 'hoax' constructed by the Democrats. With yet another legal battle against a media organization on the horizon, it remains to be seen if Trump's latest move will bring the silence he desperately wants over Epstein.
