Behind Closed Doors: Trump and Murdoch’s White House Dinner Amidst Legal Battles
In a move that has raised eyebrows across the political and media landscape, President Donald Trump was reportedly seen having a private dinner with media mogul Rupert Murdoch at the White House on Tuesday. This meeting comes despite an ongoing, high-stakes $10 billion lawsuit initiated by Trump against The Wall Street Journal, a publication owned by Murdoch’s News Corp.
The dinner, confirmed by sources close to the situation and an official speaking to CNN’s The Source, highlights a complex and often contradictory relationship between the two powerful figures. While a significant legal battle rages between Trump and The Wall Street Journal, Murdoch, the 94-year-old chairman of News Corp, has seemingly maintained a personal rapport with the President.
President Donald Trump
News Corp, a global media conglomerate, operates a vast array of publishing outlets worldwide, including prominent US titles such as The Wall Street Journal and Fox News. The lawsuit, filed by Trump over six months ago, centres on an article published by The Wall Street Journal in July, which alleged ties between the President and the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The article, described as a “bombshell report,” detailed a claim that Trump had signed a “bawdy” birthday letter to Epstein in 2003. While Trump has vehemently denied these allegations and has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing, the lawsuit remains a significant legal challenge. Lawyers for The Wall Street Journal have maintained the accuracy of their reporting, labelling Trump’s complaint as an “affront to the First Amendment.”
Despite the serious legal accusations and the publication’s defence of its reporting, Murdoch appears to have navigated the situation with a degree of personal diplomacy. This is not the first time the pair have been seen together since the lawsuit was filed. In September 2025, both men attended a state banquet at Buckingham Palace in the United Kingdom, held in Trump’s honour. Just a month later, Murdoch and several of his senior executives reportedly dined with the President again at the White House.
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal itself has continued its critical stance on Trump and certain policies enacted by his administration. In a December editorial, the newspaper dismissed the President’s persistent claims of a stolen 2020 election as “nonsense.” The editorial board stated, “Mr. Trump will never admit his 2020 claims were partisan nonsense. But Republicans who care about the future could do their man a favour by refusing to keep indulging them.”
The legal wrangling concerning election integrity continues, with recent unsealed documents revealing that the FBI raided an office in Fulton County, Georgia, to seize ballots from the 2020 presidential election. This action is reportedly connected to a federal investigation into alleged “deficiencies or defects” surrounding Trump’s performance in the state.
Beyond The Wall Street Journal, other media outlets under the News Corp umbrella have also exhibited signs of questioning the administration’s policies. This includes a critical perspective on the stringent immigration crackdown implemented in Minnesota.
More recently, prominent figures within Fox News, a network often seen as a Trump ally, have publicly voiced concerns. Brian Kilmeade, co-host of the morning show Fox & Friends, a program Trump frequently watches, and Sean Hannity, a close confidant of the President, have both appeared to urge Trump to adopt a softer approach to immigration enforcement. This shift in tone emerged in the wake of the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers in Minneapolis.
On January 26, Kilmeade publicly implored the President to dispatch border czar Tom Homan to “settle things down.” Trump later announced via Truth Social that Homan would indeed be sent. Sean Hannity, a long-time advocate for the administration’s aggressive mass deportation policies, also used his platform to suggest that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should cease “going into Home Depots and arresting people,” deeming it “not a good idea.”
These apparent shifts in messaging from within News Corp’s media properties come at a time when Trump’s popularity ratings have reportedly seen a significant decline, despite his public assertions to the contrary. Public opinion on immigration enforcement and the administration’s handling of the economy, particularly in the lead-up to midterm elections, are cited as key drivers of this perceived drop in favour. The intricate dance between political power, media influence, and legal challenges continues to play out, with figures like Trump and Murdoch at its centre.
