Trump-Epstein saga splinters the Murdoch empire
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Murdoch visiting Trump in the Oval Office in February. Photo: Craig Hudson for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Rupert Murdoch's media empire is playing both sides of the Trump-Epstein scandal, breaking bombshell news with one hand and largely ignoring it with the other.
Why it matters: The Wall Street Journal's scoop about Trump's alleged letter to Jeffrey Epstein drew national headlines — just not on Fox News. The divergence underscores how Murdoch's dual media arms serve different audiences, but the same bottom line.
Driving the news: President Trump is suing the Journal and Murdoch himself and has expressed frustration with the conservative media mogul over the Epstein coverage. But there seems to be little he can do to stop one of the most unique and successful business strategies in media.
- In the years since Trump first took office in 2017, News Corp.'s stock has more than doubled.
- Shares of Fox Corp., which began trading independently in 2019 after Disney acquired 21st Century Fox, have surged 39%.
Zoom in: For Trump, Murdoch's loyalty to his business goals has been both helpful and harmful.
- On one hand, Trump's symbiotic relationship with Fox News has been a key tenet of his campaign and governing strategy.
- On the other, he hasn't gotten a pass on critical reporting from the Journal.
A Fox spokesperson directed Axios to its coverage of the Epstein files more broadly. In the examples Fox shared, the few that mentioned the Journal scoop focused on Trump's lawsuit or claims that the letter was fake.
- The Wall Street Journal did not respond to a request for comment.
- WSJ editor-in-chief Emma Tucker previously told Axios the Journal is "used to being gaslit by CEOs and people in power in response to its journalism."
Yes, but: Trump has limited options to punish Murdoch for reporting he doesn't like.
- Because Fox News isn't a broadcast network, there are few regulatory levers the president can pull to retaliate when it does occasionally step out against him.
- And because of the Trump administration's reliance on the network for messaging to a broad swath of conservative Americans, urging the MAGA base to quit the network wouldn't be beneficial.
- News Corp. does occasionally require regulatory approval for small deals, but none of them have been big enough to fundamentally disrupt its business if Trump were to come after the company.
- While a majority of Republicans get their news from Fox, the Journal is read by both sides of the aisle, according to a recent Pew survey.
Reality check: For Murdoch, one of the most successful foreign-born businessmen in American history, this power dynamic works in his favor.
- Trump has proven so reliant on Fox News that even after lambasting the network for calling the race for Joe Biden in 2020, he still used Fox as the main platform for his 2024 campaign.
- Trump made nearly 20 appearances on Fox News during the general election last year between August and November.
- Fox News ratings continue to crush its cable news competition, and that gap has widened since the 2024 election.
- Fox has lured over 200 new advertisers to its platform since the election.
- Meanwhile, the Journal has been able to navigate a uniquely polarizing time for national newspapers, growing its digital subscriber base by more than 3 million since 2016.
The bottom line: Murdoch's loyalty to his business goals over the administration's ideology makes it hard for Trump to control him.
