Donald Trump enjoyed what may be his second biggest win of the year last Friday when ABC settled Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the network and its best-known anchor. The suit related to George Stephanopoulos saying Trump was found “liable for rape.” ABC, through its foundation, agreed to contribute $15 million to the future Trump Presidential Library, cover $1 million in Trump’s legal fees, and issue an apology.
The settlement surprised many in the media. While Trump was not found guilty of rape in the E. Jean Carroll case, the judge in the case wrote, “The finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was ‘raped’ within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word rape. Indeed, as the evidence at trial recounted below makes clear, the jury found that Mr. Trump in fact did exactly that.”
Trump’s victory over ABC was followed yesterday with a lawsuit against The Des Moines Register and pollster J. Ann Selzer over a poll held shortly before election day that indicated Kamala Harris leading Trump by 3 percent in Iowa. Trump won Iowa by 14 percent. .
Before the election and during his first term in office, Trump threatened “fake news” outlets such as ABC and NBC with revocation of their broadcast licenses. He has also routinely ridiculed media personalities who dare to criticize him.
Earlier in his “career,” in 2006, Trump sued Warner Books and the author of a book titled The Art of Being the Donald, who wrote that Trump was only a millionaire, not a billionaire. Trump’s suit was dismissed.
In October 2022, Trump sued CNN for $2.75 billion. In part, the complaint read: “CNN has sought to use its massive influence – purportedly as a ‘trusted’ news source – to defame the Plaintiff in the minds of its viewers and readers for the purpose of defeating him politically, culminating in CNN claiming credit for ‘[getting] Trump out’ in the 2020 presidential election.”
Trump alleged the term “The Big Lie,” was “uttered” more than 7,700 times on the network from January 2021 to the date of the lawsuit.
In May 2023, Trump sued The Washington Post for $3.78 billion for publishing news relating to the finances of Truth Social, the social media platform that has become the go-to news outlet for the Trump transition. Trump alleged the Post acted with malice to undermine him politically.
There have been other lawsuits filed by Trump or his campaign, including actions against a Wisconsin TV station for running an ad that suggested that Trump had called the coronavirus a hoax, Bob Woodward, and CBS.
After January 20, 2025, will Trump attempt to silence his critics with further attacks on the free press? That is a worry all of us should have. And it gets worse. As traditional news outlets have lost ground to social media sites, podcasts, blogs, and other non-traditional news-sharing, those previously unregulated sources of information (and misinformation) could find themselves subject to new regulations or lawsuits intended to intimidate them against speaking out against Trump and his policies.
Trump’s threats to the media and anyone else criticizing him should be taken seriously. In the case of the media, I wonder whether the nature of the threats will change from lawsuits to governmental action after Inauguration Day. Will Trump or soon-to-be FBI Director Kash Patel develop an enemies list?
I also wonder whether the threats themselves will suffice to hush many, or even most, critics, even those outside the media but who may be known in their communities as Trump-haters. If Trump fails to close the IRS, will some of these people find themselves subject to tax audits?
It is ironic that Donald Trump is pursuing “dishonest” media. The Washington Post has cataloged more than 30,573 of what it calls “lies” told during Trump’s first term in the White House.
Remember when Donald Trump said that Senator Ted Cruz’s father was with John F. Kennedy’s assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, right before Oswald was shot? The implication was that Cruz’s father was somehow involved in the assassination. To my knowledge, Senator Cruz, today one of President-Elect Trump’s strongest supporters in the U.S. Senate, never sued for defamation.
J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s List on Medium and Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.
