MAGA hates you: Trump fumes at Fox, WSJ over approval ratings and Iran coverage

Friends can become enemies in a heartbeat. This happened to Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, a long-time supporter of US President Donald Trump, after it gave lower approval ratings to the US President. As for Murdoch's Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the US President disagreed with their coverage of Iran.

Trump took to Truth Social to discuss Fox's "long-standing bias" and "faulty election polls", and criticised the WSJ for its reporting on America's plan on Iran.

"The Crooked FoxNews Polls got the Election WRONG, I won by much more than they said I would, and have been biased against me for years. They are always wrong and negative. It's why MAGA HATES FoxNews, even though their anchors are GREAT (sic)," Trump posted on Truth Social.

Trump blasted the network over what he called a "fake border poll" and also accused it of using "discredited pollsters despite repeated inaccuracies". The poll, released on Wednesday, indicated that 46% of respondents approve of Trump's performance, while 54% expressed disapproval.

"This has gone on for years, but they never change the incompetent polling company that does their work. Now a new FoxNews poll comes out this morning giving me a little more than 50% at the Border, and yet the Border is miraculously perfect. NOBODY WAS ABLE TO COME LAST MONTH. 60,000 people came in with Sleepy Joe in the same month last year (sic)," he continued.

In a follow-up post, he came down heavily on Murdoch's flagship newspaper, WSJ, after it reported on Wednesday that the US was planning to attack Iran, but was holding off in a last-ditch hope to persuading the Iranians to voluntarily abandon their nuclear ambitions.

"The Wall Street Journal has no idea what my thoughts are concerning Iran! (sic)" Trump wrote on Thursday.

Interestingly, in the Fox Poll, Donald Trump's lowest numbers were actually on the topic of inflation, with 64% disapproving of his handling of this key economic issue, and just 34% approving, according to The Daily Mail.

Yet, his outburst was particularly over how he was being rated on the border.

Trump's relationship with Fox News, traditionally supportive of him, and The Wall Street Journal, which has both applauded and criticised his policies, has been long and complex.

Earlier this year, Trump hosted Murdoch himself in the Oval Office, where he referred to the media mogul as "legendary" and "one of the most talented people in the world", while also musing that he would need to "talk to" Murdoch about the Journal's coverage of his administration, according to a New York-based news website, Media ITE.

Scott Lucas, professor of international politics at University College Dublin, said Trump’s decision to bring the military into Los Angeles to deal with protests also harmed his rating due to the method used.

"The Fox poll is going to get headlines in part because it’s Fox, where you have a lot of Trump supporters, in part because the numbers are so stark, and in part because of Trump's angry reaction on social media," Newsweek quoted Lucas as saying.

He noted that Trump’s poll numbers (on Fox News) have been fluctuating, with a notable decline in April due to concerns over the economy, trade, inflation, and the negative impact of his tariff policies.

He added that deploying the military in Los Angeles to handle protests also hurt Trump’s approval, even among those who support his immigration policy but disagreed with the approach. “He's slipping” on migration, Lucas said, according to Newsweek.

Tune In