Murdoch's testimony in Trump's WSJ defamation suit paused, but media titan must give medical updates

Wall Street Journal owner Rupert Murdoch will give health updates to President Trump, who is seeking a deposition from him in connection with a defamation suit he's filed a story by the newspaper connecting him to deceased financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In a joint stipulation filed in Miami federal court on Monday and approved by Judge Darrin Gayles on Tuesday, Murdoch’s deposition and discovery will be postponed until the judge rules on the motions to dismiss Trump's case, CNBC reported. If the dismissal motion is denied, then Murdoch will have to be deposed by Trump's lawyers within 30 days.

Murdoch is required to give Trump’s lawyers “a sworn declaration describing his current health condition” within three calendar days.

“Defendant Murdoch has further agreed to provide regularly scheduled updates to Plaintiff regarding his health, including a mechanism for him to alert the Plaintiff if there is a material change to his health,” according to the filing.

The mechanism is detailed in a separate agreement that is not publicly filed with the court.

If Murdoch doesn't provide the health updates as agreed, then he will have to sit for an “expedited” deposition, per the filing.

The stipulation comes a week after Trump's attorneys requested a deposition from Murdoch within 15 days. The lawyers' motion had implied that Murdoch might be either dead or too sick to testify in person by the time the case went to trial.

“Murdoch is 94 years old, has suffered from multiple health issues throughout his life, is believed to have suffered recent significant health scares, and is presumed to live in New York, New York,” Trump’s lawyers said in their filing requesting the deposition.

Last month, Trump sued Murdoch, News Corp and its CEO Robert Thomson, Dow Jones & Co., and the two reporters who wrote a Journal article that claimed Trump had sent Epstein a birthday card in 2003 for turning 50.

“We have just filed a POWERHOUSE Lawsuit against everyone involved in publishing the false, malicious, defamatory, FAKE NEWS ‘article’ in the useless ‘rag’ that is, The Wall Street Journal,” Trump posted on Truth Social when the lawsuit was filed.

“This historic legal action is being brought against the so-called authors of this defamation, the now fully disgraced WSJ, as well as its corporate owners and affiliates, with Rupert Murdoch and Robert Thomson (whatever his role is!) at the top of the list,” he added.

The lawsuit comes as Trump and the Justice Department have been criticized for not releasing all case files regarding Epstein, who was on trial for sex trafficking when he died in prison in 2019. His death was ruled a suicide.