JD Vance's Shady Meeting With Rupert Murdoch Ignites Rumors That He's Turning On Trump

As the vice president, JD Vance plays an important role in promoting Donald Trump's political agenda and shoring up support for the administration. However, the pair have a famously complicated relationship, and a secretive meeting with billionaire and media mogul Rupert Murdoch back in June 2025 has some commentators wondering if perhaps Vance is secretly turning on Trump and trying to undermine him. The rumors of possible subterfuge got louder in July 2025, after the Wall Street Journal — which is owned by Murdoch — published an incendiary report claiming that Trump once penned a suggestive, somewhat salacious letter with a crude drawing to Jeffrey Epstein, years before Epstein's crimes became public knowledge.

Trump — who has raged against suggestions and allegations that he had close ties to the infamous sex offender and denied that he wrote the note and made the doodle  — subsequently filed a $20 billion libel lawsuit against Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal. However, in the wake of the bombshell report, there was renewed interest in Vance's mysterious meeting with Murdoch the month before. What is known definitively about the meeting, which occurred on June 10, was it was held at Murdoch's sprawling ranch in Montana. The meeting also included several Fox News executives, such as Murdoch's son Lachlan, according to The Associated Press. Vance and his wife, Usha, flew to the state on Air Force Two, and only stayed for the day before returning home. 

However, the specifics of the conversation have been left very much up for speculation and debate. Many are wondering what was said and whether or not Vance is secretly plotting against Trump by providing ammunition to the press to bury him — or possibly getting revenge for all of the shady digs Trump has dished out since the start of his second term.

It's unclear exactly why JD Vance met with Rupert Murdoch back in June. Murdoch's media empire has typically been very right-leaning and Fox News has been an unabashed Trump supporter for years. However, the Wall Street Journal has stood out from many of Murdoch's outlets for being openly critical of Trump's economic policies, and his presidency in general. However, after the outlet published the controversial report about Trump's alleged letter to Jeffrey Epstein, many on X began to suspect Vance's meeting had a possibly conspiratorial intent.

"JD Vance is plotting a coup against Trump," one X user suggested, while another remarked that it seemed like Vance is "scheming against Trump already." Another seemed to suggest that the meeting was actually arranged by Trump to help coordinate coverage of the report and create a distraction in the aftermath of the Epstein-related backlash.

Vance, meanwhile, has diligently played the role of a supportive vice president. Following the release of the Wall Street Journal's expose, Vance took to social media to slam the report and deny its legitimacy. "Forgive my language but this story is complete and utter bulls***. The WSJ should be ashamed for publishing it," Vance wrote on X on July 17. "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?"