WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance is refusing to meet with German media conglomerate Axel Springer’s CEO Mathias Dopfner after that company’s publication Business Insider ran an inherently fake hit piece on Donald Trump Jr., Breitbart News has learned exclusively.
Two sources close to the vice president confirmed to Breitbart News that in recent weeks Vance was scheduled to meet with Dopfner but had to call off the meeting due to a scheduling conflict. The meeting was set to be rescheduled to a later date, and until this week the vice president absolutely intended to hold the meeting. But now, after Business Insider ran a fake attack on Trump Jr. falsely comparing him to Hunter Biden, the vice president has directed staff that he does not intend to reschedule the meeting.
This is the second major development showing serious problems for German media conglomerate Axel Springer, the parent company of both Business Insider and Politico, since the publication of the fake Business Insider story. The first problem, as Breitbart News reported on Wednesday, was that Brian Ballard’s lobbying firm Ballard Partners dropped Axel Springer as a client in the aftermath of the matter. Ballard had been facing issues with regard to his access to President Donald Trump and has had an on-again-off-again relationship with the president. A source close to Ballard Partners confirmed earlier on Wednesday that on Tuesday evening Ballard Partners dropped Axel Springer like a bad habit. Since then, documents have surfaced showing Ballard Partners formally severing the ties.
Ballard Partners has filed a termination of their lobbying contract with Axel Springer.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) May 14, 2025
They reported making $80,000.
Ballard signed Axel on 4/1 and filed a termination Tuesday. https://t.co/5IWWOfNAFx
These deep issues also come amid reports that Axel Springer’s other major U.S. media property, Politico, has been facing major internal issues regarding staff retention and leadership challenges. A report late Tuesday revealed that Dopfner and his deputy in Axel Springer’s Berlin headquarters have been personally monitoring and engaging the leadership of Politico given deep concerns among current and former Politico staff with the editorial leadership of editor Alex Burns.
Failing to get the rabid leftists running rampant at these media properties under control is now proving to be a serious business cost for Dopfner, who is likely to be forced to intervene soon in both Business Insider and Politico or else face continued serious consequences for his company. Whether he actually does anything about it remains to be seen; Dopfner and Business Insider staff have not replied to a comment request about this latest development regarding how the insanity at Business Insider has now cost Dopfner a meeting he previously had scheduled with the vice president of the United States. These issues seem only likely to deepen more without direct intervention and action by Dopfner. Whether he has the chops to lead Axel Springer into the future may start to be a question those with interest in seeing the company succeed begin to seriously ask.
