Hillary Clinton turned down a meeting with Rupert Murdoch. He was considering endorsing her.

What would have happened if they actually met?
The New York Times reported Wednesday that Rupert Murdoch — who was initially opposed to the idea of a Donald Trump presidency — flirted with the idea of endorsing Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the lead up to the 2016 presidential election.
It's a common assessment, at this point, that President Trump's rise was aided by Fox News, a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's global media empire, which has altered the political fate of numerous countries across the world. Trump and Murdoch had cultivated a relationship dating back to the 1970s when Trump became a star tabloid figure heavily featured in Murdoch's New York Post, so the unofficial partnership makes sense. But Murdoch never thought highly of Trump as a person — sources told the Times that the media mogul has referred to the president as a "[expletive] idiot" in the past. Roger Ailes, the former head of Fox News, shared that sentiment as well, believing Trump was not "remotely worthy" of the Oval Office.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
So, Murdoch reportedly personally called Clinton and left a message at her campaign headquarters with the intention of setting up a meeting. Clinton did call back shortly, but declined Murdoch's invitation. Spurned by Clinton, Murdoch was left with more time to come around to the idea of Trump as he continued to defy expectations and stay at the top. The rest, as they say, is history. Read more at The New York Times.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Book reviews: 'America, América: A New History of the New World' and 'Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson'
Feature A historian tells a new story of the Americas and the forgotten story of a pioneering preacher
-
Another messaging app used by the White House is in hot water
The Explainer TeleMessage was seen being used by former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
-
AI hallucinations are getting worse
In the Spotlight And no one knows why it is happening
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment
-
Trump judge bars deportations under 1798 law
speed read A Trump appointee has ruled that the president's use of a wartime act for deportations is illegal
-
Trump ousts Waltz as NSA, taps him for UN role
speed read President Donald Trump removed Mike Waltz as national security adviser and nominated him as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
-
Trump blames Biden for tariffs-linked contraction
speed read The US economy shrank 0.3% in the first three months of 2025, the Commerce Department reported
-
Trump says he could bring back Ábrego García but won't
Speed Read At a rally to mark his 100th day in office, the president doubled down on his unpopular immigration and economic policies
-
Canada's Liberals, Carney win national election
Speed Read The party of Prime Minister Mark Carney beat Conservative Pierre Poilievre thanks in part to Trump's trade war