Trump and Murdoch agree to pause in battle over Epstein article

Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump have agreed to pause the media mogul’s deposition in a libel lawsuit brought by the US president last month over a story published by The Wall Street Journal detailing Trump’s dealings with Jeffrey Epstein.

Court filings released on Tuesday said the two parties had reached an agreement to hold off on Murdoch’s court appearance until after The Wall Street Journal’s motion to dismiss the case had been heard.

Trump had initially sought Murdoch’s deposition to be expedited, citing the 94-year-old’s age and health, which some media outlets have labelled a stunt.

The parties had also agreed not to engage in discovery in the meantime, filings released by the Florida Court said.

The agreement was reached on Monday evening, according to US media outlet Politico. The likely outcome is that Murdoch, also facing a resumption of his own family legal battle in Nevada this year, will not appear in court for at least several months, and would only need to if the Journal’s motion to dismiss the case failed.

The filing also said Murdoch would appear in a mutually agreed location, in person, within 30 days, should the motion fail, and that he had agreed to provide “regularly scheduled updates to the Plaintiff [Trump] regarding his health”, including a mechanism for him to alert the president if there was a material change in his health.

Trump brought the $US10 billion ($15 billion) suit last month after The Wall Street Journal published a story reporting that he had signed a “bawdy” letter to Epstein, the disgraced Wall Street financier, for his 50th birthday, which included a drawing of a naked woman with his signature attached.

The president named Murdoch, News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson and the two reporters responsible for the article as defendants. The company intends to defend the reporting.

Trump has sued several other major media companies, including Disney-owned television network ABC and Paramount-owned CBS, ultimately settling both for a fraction of the costs he initially sought.

Trump has faced mounting pressure over his administration’s handling of the Epstein scandal and his links to the convicted paedophile, who died while in custody in 2019.

His initial response to the Journal story was that the drawing and letter was “fake”, claiming the publication of the alleged 2003 letter amounted to slander and violated libel laws.

The president and his team were reported to have gone to great lengths to kill the story, which the newspaper ultimately printed, and has stood by since its publication, later also reporting that Trump’s name appeared in the Epstein files.

Thomson will face investors on Wednesday morning, Australian time, as the company delivers its full-year financial results. News Corp’s other east coast newspaper, the New York Post, has announced its intentions to launch a Los Angeles based right-wing tabloid on Tuesday, The California Post.

The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.