American billionaire Rupert Murdoch's newspapers blame Trump for Republican midterm defeat

American billionaire Rupert Murdoch's two biggest U.S. newspapers blamed President Donald Trump for the Republican Party's defeat in Tuesday's midterm elections, while Trump spent election night attacking Fox News, the cable network the Murdoch family also controls.

The New York Post, long seen as Trump's favorite newspaper, ran a front page on Wednesday showing the president under a giant wave modeled on the Japanese woodblock print "The Great Wave off Kanagawa," with the White House in the background. The headline read "BLUE TSUNAMI," over the line "Trump suffers historic rebuke as Dems romp in midterms."

The Post's editorial board wrote that Trump "wanted voters to pretend he was on the ballot," and that "most of those who did voted against his party." It said: "Candidates he helped pick all lost or at least badly underperformed." It also warned Democrats that they had "won purely as Trump's opposition, without expressing any realistic vision going forward."

'The main architect of this rout'

The Wall Street Journal's editorial board went further. Under the headline "The Trump Reckoning Arrives," it called the results a "crushing verdict" and wrote: "True to form, President Trump is already blaming everyone else, but he is the main architect of this rout."

The editorial said Trump was "directly responsible for at least three Senate defeats" after backing weak candidates in Texas, North Carolina and Georgia, and that his tariffs and the war with Iran had driven up prices, especially for fuel. It said his "erratic and self-indulgent second-term governance" had driven away much of the coalition he built in 2024, and pointed to his White House ballroom and arch projects and to his family's growing wealth. The Republican Party, it said, "needs a debate about what it stands for after Donald Trump."

The White House pointed to Trump's post on Truth Social. "I wasn't on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!" he wrote.

Trump turns on Fox News

Trump aimed much of his anger at Fox News. On Tuesday evening, as results came in, he called Fox News polls "always the worst" and said he was turning the channel off because he "can't stand" the voice of Jessica Tarlov, a liberal co-host of the show "The Five," whom he called "DUMB AS A ROCK." He also accused Fox Corp. of giving money to Democrats.

Hours after the polls closed, he asked: "Why does FoxNews have Bill de Blasio, the Worst Mayor in the History of New York City, on air." He added: "FoxNews bears responsibility for these losses by constantly and consistently putting on the Dumocrat opposition."

Hearings ahead for media owners

The new Democratic majorities could also bring the Murdochs and other media owners before Congress. Democrats have said they plan to examine media and technology deals that won approval under the Trump administration, along with the companies' ties to the White House. Fox Corp., run by Rupert's son Lachlan Murdoch, agreed in June to buy streaming company Roku Inc. in a cash-and-stock deal worth about $22 billion including debt. The deal still needs regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first half of 2027.

David Ellison, the chief executive of Paramount Skydance Corp. and son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, faces questions over his company's pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. and the money it has raised from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds and others. In May, Reps. Frank Pallone and Jamie Raskin accused Ellison of stonewalling their inquiry into Paramount's dealings with the administration. Raskin is expected to chair the House Judiciary Committee in January. Meta Platforms Inc., run by Mark Zuckerberg, is among the technology companies with government deals tied to data centers and artificial intelligence.

"This administration has turned merger review into a marketplace for political favors," said Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, who has pledged to "examine every merger this administration has approved."

Rupert Murdoch, 95, built News Corp. from a single newspaper in Adelaide, Australia, into a global media group that owns the Journal, the Post and newspapers in Britain and Australia. He became a U.S. citizen in 1985 and is chairman emeritus of both News Corp. and Fox Corp. Lachlan Murdoch took control of the family trust that holds its voting stakes in the two companies last year, after a settlement under which his siblings Prudence, Elisabeth and James sold their interests.