'Poke the bear': Legal experts warn Trump’s 'sarcastic' Murdoch filing will backfire

29 July

Rupert Murdoch looks on, at the White House, in Washington, U.S. February 3, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo

NPR reports President Donald Trump has gotten personal in his defamation lawsuit againstThe Wall Street Journal and media mogul owner Rupert Murdoch.

Trump is suing the paper after claiming on social media that he personally told Murdoch that a birthday card he allegedly sent convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was a hoax, despite Trump’s emblematic signature comprising the pubic hair of the female image on the card.

The Wall Street Journal reported the news of the Epstein birthday card regardless. Now Trump is asking a Miami federal judge to compel the aging Murdoch, essentially, to take the stand while he still has life left in him.

“It bears noting that Murdoch was born on March 11, 1931 — he is 94 years old,” the filing claims, adding that “Murdoch has suffered, or is continuing to suffer, from multiple health issues.”

The 11-page filing outlines several public demonstrations of Murdoch’s continuing health issues — including a 2023 public collapse in London — and it argues, “There is good cause to expedite Murdoch’s deposition.”

Trump wants to compel Murdoch to answer questions under oath within 15 days of the order, but NPR reports critics are dismissing the filing.

“The way it's being framed is almost sarcastic," lawyer Joseph Azam told NPR. “It's classic Trump. He is using lawfare, to use his own term, to silence people. … The problem is he's going after people who are equally equipped — and in some ways, I would say, better equipped — to navigate this stuff."

Azam added that the filing feels like "a gratuitous attempt to poke the bear."

Murdoch’s paper appears indifferent to Trump’s legal threat. Days after Trump launched his suit, the Journal followed up with another Epstein-related article claiming the Justice Department alerted Trump in May that his name appears in the Epstein files.

NPR reports Trump’s U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi did not confirm to reporters that she told him his name had appeared.

Read the full NPR report at this link.

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