Rupert Murdoch 'pushed Donald Trump to fire White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon'

Maya Oppenheim
Updated
President Trump and Murdoch, who were both media celebrities in New York, are well acquainted with each other: Reuters
President Trump and Murdoch, who were both media celebrities in New York, are well acquainted with each other: Reuters

Rupert Murdoch reportedly urged President Donald Trump to fire his chief strategist Steve Bannon during a White House dinner.

The media mogul, who is the chairman and CEO of 21st Century Fox, is said to have advised President Trump to give his chief White House strategist the boot.

According to the New York Times, the President did not reject the advice but instead voiced his own issues with Mr Bannon who is the former executive chairman for far-right publication Breitbart.

The conversation between the fellow billionaire businessmen, who have known each other for decades, is said to have taken place at a meal just before Mr Trump retreated for his working holiday at his private golf club in Bedminster in New Jersey.

President Trump is believed to have been considering ousting Mr Bannon, who branded Breitbart a “platform for the alt-right” during his there tenure last year, for months and has sent him into a form of internal exile within the White House.

Murdoch’s purported efforts to banish Mr Bannon from the White follow reports President Trump suspects Mr Bannon is behind some White House leaks about fellow staffers.

President Trump and Murdoch, who were both media celebrities in New York, are well acquainted with each other.

Despite initially saying he thought Mr Trump was “wrong” about immigrants in 2015, Murdoch later changed tack and opted to back him during the presidential elections.

This alliance is reported to have been partially instigated and eased by Mr Trump’s son-in-law and senior aide, Jared Kushner, who is friends with Murdoch and is believed to have engaged in open warfare with Mr Bannon since the spring.

In April, Murdoch topped the New York Times’ list of Mr Trump’s key advisers outside the White House and it was reported Murdoch and Mr Trump have weekly chats about strategy.

Murdoch chairs NewsCorp - the parent company of the tabloid New York Post and conservative news outlets Fox News and Heat Street. The Fox News Channel remained loyal to Mr Trump’s candidacy throughout his presidential campaign and hosted pundits who branded other news coverage Mr Trump “fake news”. The relationship has arguably been mutually beneficial as Mr Trump is believed to be great for ratings.