It’s not every day the Vice President touches down in rural Montana, but when JD Vance made a quick and quiet visit to Rupert Murdoch’s $280 million ranch last month, it didn’t go unnoticed—especially once a certain bombshell report about Donald Trump dropped just weeks later.
Though brief, the visit has sparked plenty of curiosity.
Vance met with the 94-year-old media mogul, his son Lachlan, and several top Fox News execs.
No official statement was made about what they discussed—but the timing of it all is raising eyebrows.
A High-Powered Meeting at a Mega-Ranch
According to insiders speaking with the Associated Press, Vance arrived at Murdoch’s Beaverhead Ranch on June 11.
The sprawling property near Yellowstone National Park is one of the largest in Montana, boasting a private 28-mile fishing river and thousands of wild animals roaming its 340,000 acres.
Flight records show that Air Force Two landed in Butte—about 70 miles from the ranch—at 2:30 p.m., and was only on the ground for a few hours.
A source later told Politico that the plane left shortly after nightfall.
Montana State Auditor James Brown, who helped organize the trip, confirmed that after the meeting, Vance and his wife, Usha, went for a hike before heading home.
Tension Builds Between Trump and Murdoch
The meeting itself may have seemed routine.
Murdoch often hosts political power players at his estates over the summer.
But what followed stirred up a firestorm: one month after the visit, The Wall Street Journal, owned by Murdoch, published an explosive story accusing Donald Trump of sending a raunchy birthday card to Jeffrey Epstein back in 2003.
The article described a typewritten letter, supposedly signed by Trump, containing a sexual drawing of a woman with his signature placed over her genitals.
The story claimed the message ended with:
“Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
The card was reportedly part of a birthday album compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate.
Trump Denies, Then Sues for $10 Billion
Trump reacted to the story with his usual fury—denying every word of it.
He insisted he never wrote the message, never drew any pictures, and slammed the Journal’s claims as “false, malicious, and defamatory.”
But he didn’t stop there. Trump filed a $10 billion libel lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, Rupert Murdoch, and the journalists involved.
The case was submitted to the Southern District of Florida, and Trump is demanding a jury trial, claiming he was wronged by what he calls a “powerhouse” hit piece.
The MAGA Crowd Is Already on High Alert
This controversy comes at a tense time for Trump loyalists.
Just days before the WSJ report, the Department of Justice and the FBI announced they wouldn’t release any more Epstein-related files.
That decision outraged Trump supporters and fueled speculation about cover-ups and political manipulation.
Since then, Republicans in Congress have been bombarded with calls to force the release of the remaining Epstein documents. Conservative influencers and pro-Trump media figures are putting pressure on lawmakers to take action.
What Was Really Discussed in Montana?
That’s the million-dollar question. The Vance-Murdoch meeting happened quietly, quickly, and without official comment—just weeks before a media firestorm broke out involving Trump and a salacious piece of Epstein history.
Murdoch has had a complicated relationship with Trump.
Once a supporter—attending his inauguration and making frequent appearances—Murdoch and his media empire have lately shown signs of drifting away from the former president.
And this recent report may be a new sign of that shift.
Unanswered Questions and Political Fallout
So what’s really going on behind the scenes?
Was the meeting about editorial direction? Election strategy? Damage control? No one’s saying.
But the fact that Trump is now suing Murdoch’s newspaper for billions, just weeks after JD Vance met privately with Fox’s top brass, is hard to ignore.
With Trump’s legal case heating up, Republican leaders facing internal pressure, and Epstein-related scandals continuing to cast shadows, this story is far from over.