In the wake of the Wall Street Journal article about President Donald Trump’s friendship with convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, which detailed that a lewd letter from Trump was included in a book compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003, media outlets and social media users are claiming that Vice President J.D. Vance made a “secret trip” to Rupert Murdoch’s family ranch in Montana shortly before the article was published. The Murdoch family runs News Corp, which publishes the WSJ.
Rick Wilson, co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, tweeted, “J.D Vance made a secret trip to meet with Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch? He wasn’t going there to shut down the Epstein stories. He was going to negotiate the Presidental succession coverage.” The AF Post, a pro-Trump X account with 250,000 followers, also claimed that Vance met with Murdoch last Tuesday. Several publications, including Esquire, the Latin Times and India-based publication Firstpost published articles making the claim, with the Latin Times suggesting that Vance met Murdoch “hours before” the publication of the WSJ story.
There is no evidence that Vance met with Murdoch last week. Vance did go to Montana in June, a trip that was covered by multiple media outlets. Vance reportedly met with Murdoch, his son Lachlan, and top Fox News and News Corp executives.
At least two articles making the claim, those published by Esquire and the Latin Times, cite a piece published by the Associated Press on Vance’s June trip, with no acknowledgment of the June 11 publication date.
Prior to the Wall Street Journal’s publication of its story July 17, Trump spoke to Murdoch and urged him to stop the story’s release, according to Trump’s post on Truth Social. Trump has since filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against Murdoch and the WSJ. Epstein was first arrested for soliciting prostitution in 2006.
Vance’s office declined The Dispatch Fact Check’s request for comment.
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