All hail the return of master political puppeteer Rupert Murdoch
Opinion
Could the WSJ lawsuit indicate a shifting of favour within the Murdoch media empire to another Republican as the tide goes against Donald Trump?
It is the ultimate irony that — at the age of 93 and with the sort of cod title he used to despise, emeritus chairman of Fox and News Corp — Rupert Murdoch is in the most powerful position he has ever been.
He has the power to bring down Donald Trump — albeit the weakest president the US has ever had and who is mentally deteriorating on an almost daily basis before our eyes.
In fact, the process may have already begun.
Murdoch may have given up day-to-day control of the companies he founded, but it is still inconceivable that The Wall Street Journal would have published its explosive story about Trump’s modestly lewd drawing in celebration of Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday without Murdoch’s say-so.
According to reports, Trump heard about the impending publication and called Murdoch to ask for the story to be pulled.
It speaks volumes about the media mogul’s current relationship with Trump and his judgement about the strength of Trump’s political position that the story went ahead anyway.
Little to lose
WSJ‘s story may seem modest by comparison amid the online tidal wave of material about Epstein and Trump and parties and allegations about the rape of underage girls.
The point is where it appeared and the fact that it may represent a breach in a dam.
Since then, The New York Times has carried a story about young women taking part in a “calendar girl competition” where the only guests were Epstein and Trump. Much, much more could be on the way.
The WSJ story is also a sign that, unlike much of the mainstream media in the US, Murdoch does not feel the need to cave in to Trump at the first whiff of a libel action.
ABC News paid $15m over disputed comments on whether Trump had been found guilty of rape or merely sexual assault in New York. CBS handed over $16m over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. The network has also cancelled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, despite strong ratings, allegedly because Colbert is a Trump critic.
As the owner of the main Trump-supporting network Fox News, the Murdoch empire may feel it has little to lose and that Trump needs Fox more than Fox needs Trump.
The heart of the issue may be why Trump decided to launch a $10bn lawsuit against Murdoch, WSJ and everyone involved in the publication of the story.
WSJ has said the action will be vigorously defended.
Trump’s former friend Elon Musk publicly called the president out over the Epstein lists and Trump reportedly wanted to launch a libel action against Musk. He was dissuaded when it was pointed out that court appearances and depositions would inevitably be involved.
Lessons from Oscar Wilde
So why sue now?
Perhaps Trump hopes the action can be limited to the very precise nature of the WSJ story and it may be designed to have a chilling effect on others planning to blow apart the Trump-Epstein nexus.
Fox News hasn’t said too much about the libel action so far, but on the media-focused Sunday show with Howard Kurtz, the host did say: “By accusing the paper of libel in a filing in Miami, the president has drawn extra attention to the Journal’s story.”
And it could turn out to be a fatal blunder.
Trump is unlikely to be aware of the works of Oscar Wilde or the libel action that brought him down.
One of his assistants, if any of them is familiar with the story, should explain how the Marquess of Queensberry publicly accused Wilde of homosexuality. The author sued for libel to try to clear his name, but the case collapsed when evidence was presented in court and Wilde was prosecuted for gross indecency and ended up in jail.
What if Trump should end up in the witness box and unfortunate details about his past should spill out into the public domain?
The beleaguered president may decide to pull out, particularly if Murdoch stands firm, as he most likely will. But the damage may have already been done, with Trump starting to look increasingly like a lame-duck president.
More political manoeuvring
And there might be more to this than meets the eye.
Last month, vice-president JD Vance flew on Air Force Two to Butte, Montana to drive to Murdoch’s Matador ranch. Vance met Rupert, son Lachlan and senior Fox executives.
Nothing of the discussions has leaked. There could have been complaints about WSJ’s strident attacks on Trump’s economic policies (this was before the Epstein birthday saga). It could have been a money-raising trip, since Vance is in charge of filling the Republican war chest for next year’s midterm elections.
It could also have been an implicit get-to-know-you meeting with Vance, who would automatically become president if the Republicans were to move against Trump.
This seems unlikely at the moment but, if the media were to open the Epstein-Trump floodgates, who knows what might happen then?
If the polls were to turn toxic against Trump and the Republicans, they might dump him to save themselves at the midterms. Then of course the support of Fox News and WSJ would be vital for a newly anointed president Vance.
Nothing might have been said, but a lot could have been understood in the depths of Montana. If anything, even remotely, like this were to occur, it could be the highlight of Murdoch’s long political-fixing career.
It would be truly remarkable if the master political puppeteer had a hand in removing one US president and thereby clearing the way for another more to his liking.
Raymond Snoddy is a media consultant, national newspaper columnist and former presenter of NewsWatch on BBC News. He writes for The Media Leader on Wednesdays — bookmark his column here.