President Donald Trump, 79, wants The Wall Street Journal‘s 94-year-old billionaire owner and frenemy Rupert Murdoch deposed immediately—for fear Murdoch may die.
In a motion filed on Monday in Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against Murdoch and the Journal, Trump’s lawyer, Alejandro Brito, urged the court to depose Murdoch within the next two weeks, noting the Australian media tycoon has suffered a bevy of health issues in recent years.
“Murdoch is 94 years old, has suffered from multiple health issues throughout his life, is believed to have suffered recent significant health scares, and is presumed to live in New York, New York,” Brito wrote in the filing. “Taken together, these factors weigh heavily in determining that Murdoch would be unavailable for in-person testimony at trial.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Trump sued Murdoch, the Journal, and a number of staffers at the paper in a federal court in Florida earlier this month after the Journal reported that Trump sent sex offender Jeffrey Epstein a “bawdy” letter for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003.
The alleged letter included an imaginary conversation between the two New Yorkers inside the Trump-illustrated outline of a naked woman. Trump has denied writing the letter, calling it “fake.”
A spokesperson for the Journal had no comment. Neither the White House, a spokesperson for Murdoch, nor Brito responded to an immediate request for comment.
Trump and Murdoch have frequently sparred over coverage from outlets in Murdoch’s U.S. media empire—which includes the Journal, Fox News, and the New York Post—but Trump and his allies have nonetheless relied on Murdoch for advice. Murdoch visited the White House in February, and Vice President JD Vance visited Murdoch at the billionaire’s Montana ranch last month.
Trump’s lawyer also said Murdoch’s direct involvement in the Journal’s story warrants his expedited deposition, saying the president only wants Murdoch to speak to his own decisions related to the publication of the Epstein story.
Trump claimed that he urged Murdoch not to publish the July 17 article, writing on Truth Social that Murdoch himself said he “would take care of it.” The report on the letter came out hours later.
“Because Defendants published the Article after President Trump spoke directly with Murdoch and advised him that the letter referenced in the Article was fake,“ Brito wrote, ”Murdoch’s direct involvement further underscores Defendants’ actual malice and intent behind the decision to publish the false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements about President Trump."
Brito also claims Murdoch would have access to Trump’s letter to Epstein if the Journal possessed it—while also claiming the letter did not exist.
“If the purported letter in the Article somehow actually exists, which it does not, and the Defendants have it in their possession, which they do not, Murdoch has easy access to it,” Brito wrote.
The Journal story, written by reporters (and defendants) Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo, said the paper had “reviewed” the letter, indicating it did not possess it.
