President Donald Trump likely had an ulterior motive in inviting media mogul Rupert Murdoch to the swanky British banquet held in his honor, according to his biographer.
The president was interested in discussing a possible settlement in the multibillion-dollar defamation suit he filed against Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal following its reporting on his ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, author Michael Wolff said in a Wednesday episode of Inside Trump’s Head, citing sources in Trump’s inner circle.
“So I understand that he asked for Rupert Murdoch to be invited,” Wolff told host Joanna Coles. “What Trump intimates have told me is, because he believes that he can ‘Pressure the old man into a settlement.’”
Murdoch, 94, was seated on the same side of the table as Queen Camilla and Prince William at a white tie dinner held on Wednesday during Trump’s historic second state visit to the U.K. The powerful billionaire sat between his fifth wife, Elena, and Morgan McSweeney, chief of staff for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
“Rupert Murdoch is 94 years old, so if he can pressure him into a settlement, and then a person near Trump said to me that it could be an easy 10 million,” Wolff said.
Though Trump and Murdoch are longtime pals, the two are embroiled in a bitter legal feud after the Journal broke the story of the president’s handwritten birthday greeting to Epstein. Trump has consistently maintained that he did not write the sexually suggestive letter.
A Florida judge is awaiting a motion from Murdoch to dismiss the lawsuit. Trump, meanwhile, has forced the media mogul to provide the judge with regular updates about his health, citing his old age and “recent significant health scares.”
“Do we think that Rupert Murdoch is likely to settle?” Coles asked Wolff.
“I don’t know. I think it’s possible,” the biographer responded. “The Rupert Murdoch who ran one of the largest media companies in the world and one of the most aggressive media companies in the world certainly would never have settled.”
“I think, if you had to analyze this moment as, is he wrapping up things, settling things, getting his affairs in order, this might be the moment to strike, and Donald Trump has a very strong animal instinct for someone’s weaknesses,” he added.
NewsCorp did not immediately return a request for comment.
Sought for comment, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung called Wolff “a lying sack of s–t” who “has been proven to be a fraud.”
“He routinely fabricates stories originating from his sick and warped imagination, only possible because he has a severe and debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his peanut-sized brain,” he said.
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