Vice-President JD Vance flew to Montana on Tuesday for a private meeting with Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan, along with executives from Fox News, according to reports. The talks took place at the Murdoch family ranch near Dillon, Montana, a source confirmed.
Air Force Two landed in Butte, roughly 70 miles from the ranch, at about 2:30pm local time, triggering a temporary flight restriction. The vice-president departed shortly after nightfall, meaning the visit lasted only a few hours. During the trip, Vance and his wife Usha took a short hike at the nearby Matador Ranch.
The purpose of the meeting has not been disclosed. Vance serves as finance chair of the Republican National Committee, leading the party's midterm fundraising campaign. The Murdoch family, worth tens of billions of dollars, has long been heavily involved in Republican politics.
The encounter comes amid ongoing friction between President Donald Trump and News Corp's Wall Street Journal, whose editorial board has repeatedly criticised his economic policies. Trump has publicly attacked the newspaper, calling it a "rotten newspaper" that is "really bad for this country", and in February complained about a Journal op-ed while Rupert Murdoch stood beside him in the Oval Office.
The Montana trip also follows Vance's reported role in helping to broker peace between Trump and Elon Musk. After Musk accused the president of being in the so-called Epstein Files and called for his impeachment, Vance and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles urged the tech billionaire to end the feud. Musk later retreated from some of his attacks and said some of his posts "went too far".
Representatives for Fox and the Murdochs have not commented on the meeting.
