BREAKING: Trump Is Suing Rupert Murdoch - Bulwark Takes

Summary

Bulwark Takes: BREAKING – Trump Is Suing Rupert Murdoch

Released on July 19, 2025, "Bulwark Takes" delves into the latest developments surrounding former President Donald Trump's ongoing legal battles with various media entities. Hosted by Tim Miller of The Bulwark, this episode provides an in-depth analysis of Trump's newest lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal, situating it within the broader context of his litigious relationship with the press.

1. Trump's Escalating Legal Assault on the Media

In this episode, Tim Miller outlines the surge in Donald Trump's legal actions targeting media organizations. Trump has become notorious for filing multiple lawsuits against journalists and news outlets, aiming to intimidate and suppress unfavorable coverage. Miller emphasizes that Trump’s strategy seems to be a relentless pursuit of legal battles against the press, often resulting in frivolous cases.

Tim Miller [01:45]: "Trump's trying to sue so many media outlets into submission. I kind of forgot about the Bob Woodward suit."

2. The Wall Street Journal Lawsuit: A Closer Look

The centerpiece of the discussion is Trump’s lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones News Corp., Rupert Murdoch, and two of its reporters. Filed in the Southern District of Florida—a jurisdiction known for its lenient judge, Eileen Cannon, who has previously shown favoritism towards Trump—Miller suggests this move as a strategic "judge shopping."

Tim Miller [02:30]: "He's filing the lawsuit in the Southern District of Florida... Obviously, we're doing some judge shopping here."

The lawsuit alleges libel and slander concerning the Wall Street Journal's reporting on a birthday note Trump sent to Jeffrey Epstein for Epstein's 50th birthday. The note's authenticity and the implications of Trump's relationship with Epstein are central to the controversy.

Tim Miller [04:10]: "The interesting part of the Wall Street Journal story, besides the content of the birthday card, was where the information was coming from."

3. Examining the Evidence: DOJ’s Involvement

Miller highlights that the album containing the birthday note was reviewed by the Justice Department before Epstein's arrest in 2006. This detail strengthens the Wall Street Journal's reporting credibility, making Trump's claims of fabrication more challenging to substantiate.

Tim Miller [05:20]: "The Justice Department looks over stuff that isn't true at all. But for the Wall Street Journal... makes it a very, very, very steep hill to climb for Donald Trump."

4. Pattern of Frivolous Lawsuits

The episode also touches upon other lawsuits filed by Trump, including against Bob Woodward and CBS's "60 Minutes." Miller criticizes these actions as baseless and obstructive, pointing out that such legal maneuvers distract from more substantive issues.

Tim Miller [03:50]: "He's filing lawsuits left, right, and center. And we have the CBS 60 Minutes situation, which is still happening, which is the most absurd lawsuit that you could possibly imagine."

5. Implications for Democracy and Media Freedom

Miller expresses concern over the broader implications of Trump's legal actions on media freedom and democratic institutions. He underscores the importance of holding such lawsuits to account to preserve the integrity of the press.

Tim Miller [07:15]: "Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump are fighting. You know democracy's had worse days than that, so we'll continue to keep an eye on it."

6. The Path Forward: Hope for Transparency

Concluding the episode, Miller advocates for these legal battles to proceed to court, where discovery processes could potentially reveal more about Trump's connections with Epstein. He remains cautiously optimistic that transparency will ultimately prevail.

Tim Miller [07:50]: "I hope they get into court, because it might be that the only way for us to truly know the extent of Donald Trump's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein would be for him to have to experience discovery on that very question."

Conclusion

This episode of "Bulwark Takes" provides a comprehensive examination of Donald Trump's latest lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal, situating it within a pattern of legal challenges aimed at the media. Tim Miller offers critical insights into the motivations behind these lawsuits, their potential impact on journalistic freedom, and the broader implications for democratic society. Through meticulous analysis and timely commentary, the episode underscores the ongoing struggle between powerful political figures and the press in maintaining transparency and accountability.

Transcript

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Hey everybody. Tim Miller from the Bulwark. We've got two breaking news stories regarding Donald Trump's frivolous lawsuits. First, he has now officially filed a suit against the Wall Street Journal claiming libel and slander over their publication of the body birthday note that he wrote to Jeffrey Epstein for Epstein's 50th birthday. Basically, simultaneously to this, a judge has thrown out Trump's suit against Bob Woodward. Trump's trying to sue so many media outlets into submission. I kind of forgot about the Bob Woodward suit. This suit was as silly as it sounds. It was over the fact that Woodward released the audio tapes of the interview that Trump did with him because Trump was claiming that the publisher wasn't authorized to sell the audio tapes. Who knows? And Trump's just suing people left, right. He sued the Des Moines Register over having having their poll be wrong. I should have been suing the Des Moines Register over that. I had egg on my face publishing that story. But anyway, that is neither here nor there. So that suit has been thrown out. As Trump's legal onslaught against media institutions continues. The real news that is worth digging in on is the latest regarding this Wall Street Journal story. So here's the official news. It's just come across the wire. He filed the lawsuit on Friday against Dow Jones News Corp. Rupert Murdoch himself and two Wall Street Journal reporters. He's raising claims under federal libel law, court records show. Interestingly, this was filed in the federal court for the Southern District of Florida. Does that ring a bell to anybody? The Southern District of Florida. Hmm. Why might he be doing it there? Here's an idea. You know, Eileen Cannon, the judge that was making life as easy as possible for Donald Trump as he was being investigated and indicted for mishandling of classified information. Yeah. Southern District of Florida is Cannon's district. So obviously we're doing some judge shopping here. A little bit more from the latest. This is coming from cnbc. He writes, I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his pile of garbage newspaper, the Wall Street Journal. That will be an interesting experience. That was a Trump truth social post around this filing. And, you know, he went on to blah, blah, blah, deny, deny, deny that this is even true. I here's the thing about this story. You know, it is not above Trump to file completely ridiculous lawsuits against media companies. Right. And we have the CBS 60 Minutes situation, which is still happening, which is the most absurd law lawsuit that you could possibly imagine. I mean, he's literally suing 60 Minutes for editing the interview with Kamala Harris so that it fit into a 60 minute long show which is right in the name. Like the thing is absurd. And yet that moves forward. And that's moved forward enough that Shari Redstone is giving concessions to Donald Trump, paying him off millions and apparently firing Stephen Colbert, how related that is. Stephen Colbert show was losing money. But you can't report on the Stephen Colbert firing outside of the context of the fact that CBS has totally folded to Trump and paid him off over the stupidest fucking lawsuit in history. So, you know, you can't really glean anything about whether Trump thinks the facts are on his side from the fact that he's filed a lawsuit because he's filed lawsuits. So the facts aren't on his side all the damn time. In this case, I think it's important to revisit one of the facts from the story. You know, we're all, you know, getting our, getting our laughs and getting our, you know, conspiracy, our own theories riled up about Enigma and about the secrets, the wonderful secrets that Trump and Epstein have together. But to me, the interesting part of the Wall Street Journal story, besides the content of the birthday card, was where the information was coming from. And I want to read from that from their report one more time. Pages from the leather bound album assembled before Epstein was first arrested in 2006 are among the documents examined by Justice Department officials who investigated Epstein and Maxwell years ago. According to people who have reviewed the pages, this book was reviewed by the Justice Department, again, JBL wrote about this in his newsletter. And by the way, if you're not subscribed to JBL's newsletter, what are you doing? Go to thebork.com it's the best newsletter in the business. Writes it every day. The triad, as he writes today, it's like, well, there are only a few options. This is totally faked and fabricated, like either the Wall Street Journal did or that other people did. It's impossible to kind of say, why would there be a burn book that was fabricated with other famous people in there, Les Wexner, Alan Dershowitz, none of them have denied it if the book is real. But it's just Trump's. That's not right. Ghislaine Maxwell, that Trump maintained a friendship with, was the one that organized all this. So, I mean, sure, it's possible the Justice Department reviewed something in 2006 that was. That was fabricated. I mean, the Justice Department looks over stuff that isn't true at all. But for the Wall Street Journal, knowing how litigious this Trump is, to note in paragraph three that this was part of the evidence against Jeffrey Epstein in 2006, makes it a very, very, very steep hill to climb for Donald Trump if he wants to convince anybody that this is a fake. So the lawsuit will go forth. And Donald Trump only has a few playbooks here, plays in his playbook, rather. And he's using them all. You know, the lie, the initial denial, denial, deny, deny, deny, deny, the lawsuit, the threats of lawsuits, the threats of intimidation, and then you move on to, well, you know, was it really just locker room talk? You know, we did this in Access Hollywood. How they moved from that isn't my voice to, well, it's just boys will be boys. So you can conceivably see that same trajectory here. But in the meantime, Trump is going to take this to court. I don't know. I hope they get into court, because it might be that the only way for us to truly know the extent of Donald Trump's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein would be for him to have to experience discovery on that very question. So hope springs eternal on that front. When George Conway's back from vacation, we'll get his optimistic take on that, as usual. And that is all we got for now. So the frivolous lawsuit against Bob Woodward that Trump has filed has been thrown out this afternoon, and he's replaced that with a new frivolous lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch. The worst thing that comes out of this is that Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump are fighting. You know democracy's had worse days than that, so we'll continue to keep an eye on it. Subscribe to the feed, tell your friends, and we'll be seeing you back here soon.