The Wall Street Journal’s bombshell report on July 18, 2025, alleging a "bawdy" 2003 birthday letter from Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein, ripped through the political landscape, sparking an immediate, furious $10 billion defamation lawsuit from Trump against Rupert Murdoch, News Corp., and the Journal itself. This dramatic public rupture followed a private warning from Trump to Murdoch, who allegedly assured the former president he would "take care of it," only for the story to be published days later. The irony of Murdoch and Trump appearing together at a football match just days before the exposé underscored the sudden and profound nature of this public confrontation. This latest escalation forces a critical examination of a relationship that has long shaped conservative politics, begging the question: Why is a conservative newsman, once Trump’s most influential media ally, now seemingly going after a Republican president?
The Symbiotic Rise: From Skepticism to Strategic Alliance
Rupert Murdoch, the Australian-born media titan whose empire spans continents and defines conservative media in the United States, has always been driven by a pragmatic pursuit of power and profit. His media outlets, particularly Fox News, founded in 1996, were designed to appeal to a conservative audience, often acting as a de facto broadcasting arm of the Republican Party. Yet, when Donald Trump first descended his golden escalator in 2015, Murdoch was no immediate admirer. He publicly criticized Trump during the 2016 campaign, notably after Trump mocked Senator John McCain, posting, "When is Donald Trump going to stop embarrassing his friends, let alone the whole country?". This initial skepticism reflected a traditional conservative discomfort with Trump's populist, norm-breaking style.
As Trump defied expectations and emerged as the undeniable frontrunner for the Republican nomination, Murdoch’s calculus shifted. His business interests, which he has openly admitted often supersede rigid political ideology, dictated a pivot. The Wall Street Journal's editorial board, known for its conservative bent, dramatically shifted its support to Trump, a move reportedly influenced by Murdoch's realization that Trump could indeed win the election. This adaptability, a hallmark of Murdoch's career, demonstrates that his engagement with Trump was never purely ideological, but rather a calculated business and political strategy, one that adapted to Trump's rising power and audience appeal. He understood that influence and profit are intertwined with political power, and Trump, regardless of his unconventional style, was proving to be a generator of both ratings and political leverage. The New York Post, another Murdoch property, had long promoted Trump’s celebrity since the 1980s, often featuring him in its Page Six gossip section, and would go on to endorse him for re-election in 2020, citing his "promises made, promises kept". This marked the beginning of a powerful, mutually beneficial alliance.
During Trump's first term, the relationship between the two countries deepened considerably. The two reportedly spoke nearly every day, with Murdoch often seen as an influential adviser to the President. Sean Hannity, a prominent Fox News host, even became an informal adviser to Trump. Fox News, already leaning right, adjusted its programming to feature "less news on the air and more opinions about the news," cementing its role as a pro-Trump network. Trump, in turn, frequently praised Murdoch, calling him "an amazing guy," "in a class by himself," and "legendary". This symbiotic relationship ensured a consistent, favorable media narrative for the administration, solidifying its base and amplifying its message.
The following table summarizes key milestones in the relationship between Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch's media empire leading up to the Wall Street Journal article:
| Product | Price |
|---|---|
| Burger and fries | US$7.50 |
| Deep-dish pizza | US$13.20 |
| Hot dog | US$3.50 |
The Cracks in the Foundation: The 2020 Election and Its Aftermath
The 2020 presidential election marked the beginning of the end for the unshakeable alliance. When Donald Trump refused to concede his defeat to Joe Biden and launched an unprecedented campaign of false election fraud claims, the relationship between the media mogul and the former president began to sour. This period revealed a deep internal conflict within Murdoch’s empire, particularly regarding the balance between journalistic integrity and commercial interests.
Behind the scenes, internal communications within Murdoch’s empire, later revealed through the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit, painted a stark picture of this conflict. Rupert Murdoch himself stated under oath in January 2023 that he believed the 2020 election was "free and fair" and "not stolen," confirming that Attorney General William Barr’s December 2020 statement debunking significant voter fraud "just closed it for me". He even expressed deep concern about Trump’s state of mind, emailing a friend that the commander-in-chief was "apparently not sleeping and bouncing off walls!" and that "The real danger is what he might do as president". Yet, despite these private convictions, Fox News continued to give airtime to Trump’s baseless claims. Murdoch defended this by arguing that "The president of the United States was making wild claims, but that is news". Crucially, he admitted he could have stopped hosts like Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, Jeanine Pirro, and Sean Hannity from promoting these falsehoods, but chose not to. Internal texts from prominent hosts like Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham also revealed their private disbelief in the election fraud claims, with Carlson calling Sidney Powell "lying" and "insane," and Ingraham labeling her "a complete nut."
The reason for this public-private dichotomy was brutally pragmatic: fear of losing the audience. Fox News executives were acutely aware of a "strong conservative and viewer backlash" if they did not amplify Trump's claims, fearing viewers would defect to more extreme right-wing competitors like Newsmax and One America News. Newsmax, for instance, saw a 497% spike in viewership while Fox News experienced a 38% decline in the immediate aftermath of the election. This commercial pressure led Fox News to prioritize audience retention over journalistic integrity, even as it faced massive defamation lawsuits from voting machine companies like Dominion, which eventually settled for $787.5 million and acknowledged that it had broadcast false statements. The financial and reputational fallout from this coverage, particularly the Dominion lawsuit, forced Murdoch to consider Fox News a "toxic brand" within his broader News Corp portfolio. This prompted a strategic diversification of his political influence.
While Fox News navigated its audience dilemma, other Murdoch properties began to publicly distance themselves from the network. Weeks after Trump’s defeat, the New York Post, once his preferred newspaper, published a scathing front-page editorial titled "Stop the insanity," accusing Trump of "cheering for an undemocratic coup" and warning he would be remembered as "the anarchist holding the match". The Wall Street Journal's editorial board, which had allowed Trump to publish a letter with debunked election claims in October 2021, also began to publish editorials critical of Trump's economic policies and his influence on the Republican Party. This divergence signaled a strategic effort by Murdoch to perhaps guide the Republican party beyond Trump, or at least to broaden his media empire's appeal beyond Trump's most fervent base. This public pivot by the New York Post and Wall Street Journal can be seen as an attempt to "clean up" parts of the News Corp brand, or at least to hedge its political bets. By allowing different outlets within his empire to adopt varying stances towards Trump, Murdoch maintains influence across different segments of the conservative electorate and mitigates the risk of being solely tied to Trump's increasingly volatile brand. The Wall Street Journal, with its more traditional, establishment conservative readership, is an ideal vehicle for this strategic distancing, as it can be critical of Trump without immediately alienating the Fox News base.
Trump, ever sensitive to perceived disloyalty, quickly lashed out. He accused Murdoch of being a "globalist" and claimed Fox News and the Wall Street Journal fought him because he was "America First". More pointedly, he accused Murdoch of backing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as a "Murdoch pick". Indeed, signs in late 2022 pointed to Murdoch’s properties actively promoting DeSantis, with the New York Post famously headlining him "DeFuture" and mocking Trump as "Trumpty Dumpty". The Wall Street Journal's editorial board declared, "Trump Is the Republican Party's Biggest Loser". This signaled an explicit political calculation by Murdoch to find a new, more viable standard-bearer for the conservative movement, further deepening the rift.
The following table illustrates the nuanced and often contradictory positions taken by different parts of Murdoch's media empire after the 2020 election:
| Product | Price |
|---|---|
| Burger and fries | US$7.50 |
| Deep-dish pizza | US$13.20 |
| Hot dog | US$3.50 |
The Final Rupture: The Epstein Bombshell
The simmering tensions exploded into open warfare on July 18, 2025, with The Wall Street Journal’s publication of an alleged 2003 birthday letter from Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein. The Journal reported that the "raunchy" note, part of a collection compiled for Epstein's 50th birthday, featured typewritten text, an outline of a naked woman, and Trump's signature placed provocatively below her waist, mimicking pubic hair. It concluded with the line, "Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret". The timing was particularly potent, as Trump was already facing renewed scrutiny from his base over his administration's handling of the Epstein files, with some supporters demanding more transparency and even calling him "out of touch".
Trump’s response was immediate and characteristic. He vehemently denied writing the letter or drawing the figure, declaring, "This is not me. This is a fake thing. I don't draw pictures of women. It's not my language. It's not my words". He claimed he had personally warned Rupert Murdoch that the story was a "Scam" and "fake" and that Murdoch had assured him he would "take care of it," implying a betrayal. Within hours, Trump announced a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, News Corp., and Rupert Murdoch, vowing to "sue his ass off" and calling the Journal a "third-rate newspaper" and a "pile of garbage". This legal salvo marked an unprecedented escalation in a sitting president's battle with a major media owner.
The dramatic public fallout was made even more striking by the revelation that Murdoch had been in Trump's suite at a football match just days before The Wall Street Journal story broke. This recent, seemingly cordial interaction underscores the deep personal and professional ties that once bound them, making the public rupture all the more jarring and deliberate. It suggests that the decision to publish was not a spontaneous act but a calculated move despite recent personal contact. The Epstein bombshell highlights the deep internal conflict within conservative media between maintaining loyalty to Trump's base, and its associated conspiratorial narratives, and preserving long-term journalistic credibility and broader political influence. The Wall Street Journal's decision to publish, knowing Trump's furious reaction and the potential for a lawsuit, suggests a strategic calculation. It could be seen as an attempt to re-establish journalistic bona fides for News Corp beyond the "toxic brand" image that Fox News had acquired. By tackling a story that even segments of Trump's base were questioning, the Wall Street Journal might be trying to appeal to a more discerning conservative audience or to push the Republican Party towards a post-Trump future. This move by the Wall Street Journal, while seemingly an attack on Trump, is also an internal struggle within the conservative media ecosystem. It reveals the tension between catering to the immediate desires of a highly polarized audience, as Fox News did with election fraud claims, and the long-term strategic goal of maintaining influence and credibility within the broader political establishment. The rift is not just personal; it is a battle for the soul and future direction of the Republican Party and the conservative movement, with Murdoch attempting to steer it away from Trump's most damaging elements.
This latest development also exemplifies how information is weaponized in modern politics, turning "news" into a battleground for narrative control and eroding public trust in the media further. Trump has a long history of attacking the media and labeling unfavorable reports as "fake news". His immediate reaction to The Wall Street Journal Epstein story was to call it a "Scam" and "Fake Story". The Dominion lawsuit revealed Fox News's internal knowledge of falsehoods being aired for business reasons. Trump's consistent strategy is to discredit any unfavorable reporting by labeling it "fake." The Wall Street Journal's publication of the Epstein letter, despite Trump's warning, is a direct challenge to his narrative control. The lawsuit then becomes another tool in his "war on the press". This dynamic turns news reporting into a political act, where the validity of information is contested along partisan lines, rather than being a shared objective reality. This ongoing battle over truth and narrative, exemplified by the Murdoch-Trump rift, deepens the polarization of the electorate. It forces audiences further into "information silos" and makes it increasingly difficult for any media outlet, even conservative ones, to report critically on a figure like Trump without being accused of bias or "fake news." Murdoch's move, while potentially strategic for his empire, also contributes to this environment by demonstrating that even within the conservative media, there are internal battles over which "truth" will prevail, further complicating the landscape of public trust.
Conclusion: A Shifting Landscape
The Wall Street Journal’s Epstein exposé and Donald Trump’s retaliatory lawsuit are not merely the latest skirmish in a long-running, often transactional, relationship between two of the most powerful figures in modern American history. Instead, they represent the culmination of a complex unraveling, driven by a confluence of political calculation, business imperative, and a fundamental divergence in vision for the future of the conservative movement.
Rupert Murdoch, the ultimate media pragmatist, appears to be steering parts of his empire towards a post-Trump future, seeking to shed the "toxic brand" image that the former president's election denialism and controversies have inflicted upon Fox News, while simultaneously exploring new avenues of influence through figures like Ron DeSantis. His willingness to allow a flagship publication like The Wall Street Journal to publish a deeply damaging story about Trump, despite personal contact and warnings, signals a strategic reevaluation of Trump's long-term utility and a desire to perhaps reclaim a more traditional, establishment-conservative mantle for News Corp.
This rift, however, also highlights the profound paradox facing conservative media: the tension between catering to a loyal, often conspiratorially minded base and maintaining broader credibility and political viability. As Trump continues his "war on the press" and weaponizes accusations of "fake news" against even his former allies, the battle for narrative control within the conservative ecosystem intensifies. The outcome of this high-stakes confrontation will not only redefine the relationship between Murdoch and Trump but will also shape the trajectory of the Republican Party and the very landscape of American political media for years to come. Whether this marks a permanent realignment or merely another strategic maneuver in Murdoch's long and influential career remains to be seen, but the tremors from this latest rupture will undoubtedly be felt across the political spectrum.
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