Trump vows to sue Rupert Murdoch over WSJ's Epstein birthday letter report Brian Stelter and Liam Reilly, CNNJuly 18, 2025 at 11:54 AM The mere threat of a lawsuit has opened a new chapter in the operatic relationship between President Trump, left, and Rupert Murdoch, right, the 93yearold conservati...
- - - Trump vows to sue Rupert Murdoch over WSJ's Epstein birthday letter report
Brian Stelter and Liam Reilly, CNNJuly 18, 2025 at 11:54 AM
The mere threat of a lawsuit has opened a new chapter in the operatic relationship between President Trump, left, and Rupert Murdoch, right, the 93-year-old conservative media patriarch. - Getty Images
President Trump is vowing to sue the Wall Street Journal and owner Rupert Murdoch over the outlet's bombshell story detailing a 2003 birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein bearing Trump's name and a drawing of a naked woman.
"I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn't print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I'm going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump has a long history of legal threats against news outlets, and doesn't always follow through with actual lawsuits. In this case, he did not specify what exactly he'd sue the newspaper for, though his camp referenced "defamatory lies."
But the mere threat of a lawsuit opened a new chapter in the operatic relationship between Trump and Murdoch, the 93-year-old patriarch who controls the Journal, Fox News and other conservative media brands.
A spokesperson for the Journal declined to comment on Trump's threat or on the assertion that he directly spoke with Murdoch before publication.
In an earlier statement posted to Truth Social, Trump's team said he "personally" warned Murdoch that the letter was "a FAKE."
"Mr. Murdoch stated that he would take care of it but, obviously, did not have the power to do so," the statement said.
Additionally, the Journal's top editor, Emma Tucker, "was told directly by Karoline Leavitt, and by President Trump, that the letter was a FAKE, but Emma Tucker didn't want to hear that."
The statement confirmed rumors that had been swirling in political and media circles: namely, that the White House was trying to prevent the Journal from publishing a story involving Trump and Epstein.
The buzz about a potentially embarrassing story started not long after Trump dismissed the growing Epstein controversy as a "hoax" conjured up by Democrats to hurt him and berated his own followers as "stupid" and "foolish" for caring about it.
According to the Journal, the publication sought comment from the president on Tuesday. His "hoax" comments came on Wednesday morning.
According to the Journal's story, Trump told the publication, "I'm gonna sue The Wall Street Journal just like I sued everyone else."
Trump's expression of confidence may have stemmed from his lawsuits against ABC News and CBS News, both of which ended with legal settlements that directed money toward Trump's future presidential library.
But the legal threat did not deter the Journal from publishing.
The story, titled "Jeffrey Epstein's Friends Sent Him Bawdy Letters for a 50th Birthday Album. One Was From Donald Trump," immediately rose to the top of the Journal's most-read list.
Depending on the day and the news cycle, Trump refers to Murdoch's media empire as either a valuable ally or a vicious enemy.
Since returning to the White House in January, he has been particularly perturbed by the Journal's editorials, which are separate from the newsroom.
He has been both complimentary and critical of Murdoch, reflecting the complexities of a relationship that goes back decades.
Murdoch's right-wing media machine played a key role in Trump's path to the presidency. Murdoch initially savored the stunning degree of influence he had with the Trump White House. But he personally soured on Trump by 2020, even as the most popular hosts on Fox continued to promote the Trump agenda.
Murdoch's media holdings distanced themselves from the president after the January 6, 2021, attack, and the mogul told a colleague that "we want to make Trump a non person," according to emails obtained through court battles over Fox's airing of 2020 election lies.
But as the Republican base re-embraced Trump, so too did Murdoch, leading critics to charge that the nonagenarian was protecting his family's financial interests.
In many ways, the two men have a mutually beneficial relationship, despite the scar tissue that has built up over the years.
"Rupert Murdoch is in a class by himself, he's an amazing guy," Trump gushed on a February afternoon when Murdoch stopped by the Oval Office while cameras were rolling.
Murdoch is now chairman emeritus of his companies, making room for his son Lachlan to run the businesses on a day-to-day basis. Lachlan was seen with Trump during the FIFA Club World Cup final at MetLife Stadium last weekend.
But in recent days, when Trump wanted to persuade the Journal to kill the story, he went straight to the patriarch, to no avail.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Source: "AOL Money"
Source: Astro Blog
Read More >> Full Article on Source: Astro Blog
#LALifestyle #USCelebrities