The President of the United States is suing Rupert Murdoch. Let that settle in for a moment. Donald Trump, back in office and wielding executive power like a cudgel, has filed a $10bn libel suit against the Wall Street Journal, its parent company News Corp, and two of its reporters. Their offence? Publishing a story that alleges Trump sent Jeffrey Epstein a bawdy birthday sketch of a naked woman in 2003, signed suggestively with his first name.
We are not dealing with subtlety here. The drawing, described in detail by the Journal, features “a pair of small arcs” for breasts and a squiggly “Donald” where pubic hair might be. The note concludes: “Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.” Trump says it’s fake. The Journal says it’s real. The courts will now be asked to decide whether it is defamatory, or simply damning.
But the lawsuit is not really about the sketch. It’s about power, control, and intimidation. It’s about a president who wants to make it dangerous to ask questions, especially about Epstein.
“This lawsuit is filed not only on behalf of your favourite President, ME,” Trump posted on Truth Social, “but also in order to continue standing up for ALL Americans who will no longer tolerate the abusive wrongdoings of the Fake News Media.”
There’s a name for this sort of thing: strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPP). While anti-SLAPP laws exist in some US states to protect journalists and critics from powerful figures using the courts to silence them, the President of the United States is now using federal courts in Florida to seek $10 billion (per count) from one of the most respected (just) newspapers in the country.
A Culture of Threat and Secrecy
Trump’s threat to punish Murdoch was issued on Truth Social hours after the story dropped. It didn’t matter that the Journal had quoted multiple sources, or that the sketch was allegedly included in an album assembled by Ghislaine Maxwell, now serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking. What mattered was that it touched the third rail of Trump-era conspiracism: Epstein.
Trump’s base, long conditioned to view Epstein as the dark heart of elite corruption, expected fireworks when their man returned to office. Instead, they got evasions. When asked about “the list,” Trump has obfuscated. He blames others. He posts cryptic fragments. Now, he sues.
“They are not offering transparency,” a political commentator quipped. “They’re offering lawsuits.”
What this does is extend a pattern already visible in the administration’s authoritarian toolkit: silence first, explain later. In Trump’s second term, ABC News and CBS have already been forced into multi-million dollar settlements after facing similar lawsuits. The message is clear, report critically at your own risk.
Murdoch, the Fall Guy
The irony, of course, is that Trump and Murdoch were recently allies. Just this February, Trump hosted Murdoch at the White House and hailed him as “an amazing guy”. Now, the legendary media baron is being hauled into court by a president he helped re-elect. The grievance machine eats its own.
Vice President JD Vance jumped into the fray to defend his boss, tweeting, “This story is complete and utter bullshit… Does anyone honestly believe this sounds like Donald Trump?” But it does, of course. Trump’s cultural record is littered with off-colour jokes, vulgarity, and a longstanding obsession with his own mythic masculinity. If anything, the alleged sketch is too on-brand to be made up.
Forgive my language but this story is complete and utter bullshit. The WSJ should be ashamed for publishing it.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) July 17, 2025
Where is this letter? Would you be shocked to learn they never showed it to us before publishing it? Does anyone honestly believe this sounds like Donald Trump? https://t.co/KHsTFOSl34
“We are talking about one of the most highly respected news outlets in the country,” said Professor Roy Gutterman, a First Amendment scholar. “Trump will have to prove actual malice. That’s a high bar.”
It’s also beside the point. Winning isn’t necessary. Chilling is.
The Epstein Files and the Cult of Disclosure
Under pressure, Trump has authorised Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of sealed grand jury testimony from the Epstein case. But not the client list, because, officially, no such roster exists. As Bondi stated this month: there’s no evidence within the DOJ or FBI that catalogues Epstein’s abusers.
That is the real scandal, not that something’s hidden, but that its existence was promoted as gospel. For years Trump’s base was told he would expose the rotten core of a globalist conspiracy, blaming Democrats for suppressing the evidence. He told them the files were being covered up. That only he would unseal them. So perhaps the MAGA President shouldn’t have made such a spectacle of it being a Democrat hoax, because now he’s the one withholding the files. And instead of transparency, he’s suing reporters.
When spectacle replaces substance, litigation becomes governance.
Capitulation as Policy
Trump isn’t just suing the press, he’s bleeding it dry. ABC News folded first, coughing up $15 million after George Stephanopoulos mischaracterised Trump’s civil liability in the E. Jean Carroll case. No serious fight. No real principle. Just a settlement, a public apology, and a reminder: the presidency now comes with its own legal war chest and a mandate for revenge. Then came CBS. After airing a 60 Minutes segment on Kamala Harris that Trump claimed was “edited to lie,” they paid him $16 million and handed over uncut transcripts. The message? Accuracy doesn’t matter. This is avoid offence or pay the price.
Colbert Taken Out
Within days of that deal, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was cancelled. No farewell. No final jab. One night he was mocking Trump’s cash grab (calling it “a bribe disguised as a lawsuit”) and the next he was off the air. CBS blamed “restructuring,” but no one believes that. This was power doing what power does: silencing dissent with a smile and a spreadsheet. Elizabeth Warren called it “a deal that looked like bribery,” and she’s right. The Writers Guild wants an investigation. But Colbert’s gone. Every newsroom just got the same memo, mock Trump, and your job’s on the line.
CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump – a deal that looks like bribery.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) July 18, 2025
America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.
Watch and share his message. pic.twitter.com/Rz7HcWFLYM
Silence by Design
The lawsuit against Murdoch is part of a broader turn toward media control. Not through censorship, but financial attrition. Even if the case is tossed out, the signal it sends is loud: report on the Epstein network at your peril. Mention Trump’s connections, and the billion-dollar machine will turn your way.
That a president is now suing the Wall Street Journal for reporting an allegation linked to one of the most notorious paedophiles of the 21st century is more than a media story. It is a constitutional one. And a moral one.
Because this isn’t just about Trump, or Murdoch, or even Epstein. It’s about who gets to ask questions, and who gets punished for answering them.
