Right-wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s U.S. outlets have been split in their coverage of President Donald Trump’s tariff wars with Mexico, Canada, and China, with The Wall Street Journal calling the tariffs Trump’s “dumbest trade war” and Fox News praising Trump as a “master negotiator.” The New York Post has fallen somewhere in between, with some news-side stories relaying the economic consequences of the tariffs while its editorial board is praising Trump’s “high risk” move.
Trump initially announced 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico — acknowledging there could be “some little pain” for Americans — but agreed to pause them after conversations with his counterparts in those countries. Meanwhile, Trump's proposed 10% tariffs went into effect on China on February 3, which retaliated with its own tariffs on select American imports.
After the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board published an editorial criticizing the tariff policy and calling it “The Dumbest Trade War in History,” Trump lambasted Murdoch’s paper as “always wrong” and part of the “Tariff Lobby.” Trump also railed about the editorial while Murdoch was in the Oval Office for a February 3 meeting. When asked about what he and Murdoch discussed, Trump said, “Just respect, I have great respect for Rupert Murdoch. I disagree with him a lot of times with The Wall Street Journal but it’s all right. We’ve disagreed before. And I’m sure they didn’t have any idea what they were talking about.”
Of the Murdoch outlets, The Wall Street Journal has been the most disapproving of the tariffs
In a February 3 piece published by the Journal’s editorial board, titled “The Dumbest Trade War Fallout Begins,” the board explained that tariffs will spur retaliatory efforts from all three named countries and “prices will increase for most tariffed goods.” The board suggested that calling Trump’s tariffs dumb is an “understatement.”
A February 4 piece by the board argued that Trump’s tariffs are not “some genius power play, as the Trump media chorus is boasting,” that the Canadian and Mexican concessions aren’t particularly notable, and that there is a lack of clarity about what he wants tariffs to “achieve.”
The Journal’s own straight reporting has underscored the editorial board’s concerns.
An article from February 3 reported, “Wall Street analysts and economists are virtually unanimous that tariffs of the sort Trump unveiled this weekend will, if sustained for more than a few months, hurt U.S. growth and boost inflation.”
Another article delved into “how U.S.-China tariffs will work — and what’s in store for Mexico and Canada,” explaining that “tit-for-tat tariffs by all three countries wouldn’t only put U.S. imports but hundreds of billions worth of U.S. exports on the line.”
Fox News has celebrated Trump’s tariffs, arguing that he is a “master negotiator”
Fox News — both the cable network and its online outlet — have loudly defended Trump’s tariffs and praised his ability to make deals.
Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy claimed that Trump is a “master negotiator," while Fox Business reporter Edward Lawrence argued that “we might be seeing the art of the deal going on here.”
Fox News host Jeanine Pirro also insisted that “it's time for us to really level the playing field, because we are tariffed all over the world.”
On Fox News’ website, one article attacked Democrats for complaining that tariffs would “‘drive up’ costs,” claiming that they spent “years deflecting blame for high prices from the Biden administration.”
Another article, titled “‘America First’: Largest steel producer in US announces support of Trump tariffs,” detailed praise from the “CEO of the largest steel producer in the U.S., Nucor Corp.,” explaining that he described the tariffs as “tools to end ‘currency manipulation’ and the ‘subsidization’ of steel coming to the U.S. from abroad.”
New York Post has had mixed coverage of the tariffs
Murdoch’s tabloid the New York Post has provided mixed coverage, with some articles delivering an in-depth look at the economic consequences of tariffs while others have focused on support for them, and editorials offering tepid support.
Articles from the Post have warned that these tariffs could negatively affect prices and shipments for things like food, electronics, alcohol, and clothes.
One article noted that the “Tax Foundation has estimated that Trump’s tariffs will reduce GDP by about 0.4 percentage points, harm unemployment by about 344,000 jobs and amount to tax increases of about $1.2 trillion between 2025 and 2034.”
Other New York Post articles have detailed support from New York “business leaders” and Republican Sens. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) and Rick Scott (R-FL).
One article claimed that “the trading relationship matters a lot more to Mexico, Canada and China’s economies than it does to the US.”
The New York Post’s editorial board has tepidly supported Trump’s tariffs, acknowledging that they are “high risk” and saying that “the prez mustn’t lose sight of the big picture” as “failure would include higher prices for already suffering Americans.”