Media in the courthouse

As Donald Trump moves back into the White House, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker will document the lawsuits he files against members of the press and news outlets as president-elect and president, as well as their resolutions, in this specialized tracking project.

On the eve of the 2024 election, Trump — who has done little to disguise his disdain for members of the press — renewed his long-standing tactic of pursuing legal action against outlets for reporting that he argues is biased or unfair.

In late October, for example, attorneys representing Trump sent a letter to The New York Times and Penguin Random House demanding $10 billion in damages for “false and defamatory statements” about the former president.

On Oct. 31, Trump also followed through on threats to sue CBS News over a “60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, the editing of which he alleges attempted to sway the election toward his opponent. The suit claims the network violated a Texas consumer protection law meant to curb false advertising.

In the past, Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of changing libel laws meant to protect journalists from meritless lawsuits, and he has pursued numerous suits against journalists. In 2018, he sent multiple cease and desist letters in an attempt to halt the publication of “Fire and Fury,” journalist Michael Wolff’s book on Trump’s first administration. Trump also sued the Times in 2020 and 2021, CNN in 2022, journalist Bob Woodward in 2023, and ABC News in 2024.

Much to the alarm of many press freedom advocates and news media organizations, ABC opted to settle in December, agreeing to pay $15 million toward Trump’s presidential library plus an additional $1 million in legal fees.

CBS News parent company Paramount ultimately opted to settle Trump’s lawsuit against the broadcaster, announcing on July 2, 2025, that it would pay $16 million, covering Trump’s legal fees with the remainder purportedly going to his future library.

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez condemned the decision in a statement posted on the social platform X, asserting that the move was a clear and desperate attempt to appease the administration and secure approval of the company’s pending merger.

“But instead of standing on principle, Paramount opted for a payout,” she wrote. “This moment marks a dangerous precedent for the First Amendment, and it should alarm anyone who values a free and independent press.”

This article was first published on Jan. 6, 2025.

July 18, 2025 | Trump files suit against WSJ, journalists over reporting on Epstein letters

President Donald Trump filed a defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and its parent company in federal court on July 18, 2025, alleging that the newspaper deliberately defamed him.

In an article published the day before, titled “Jeffrey Epstein’s Friends Sent Him Bawdy Letters for a 50th Birthday Album. One Was From Donald Trump,” the paper described entries in a leatherbound book compiled in 2003 for the disgraced financier, who was later charged with sex trafficking of minors.

The letter allegedly written by Trump was typed within the drawn outline of a woman and included the sign-off, “may every day be another wonderful secret.” No copy of the letter was included in the article.

Trump immediately took to his social platform, Truth Social, to refute the reporting and condemn the newspaper, as well as the editor behind the article.

“The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein. These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures,” Trump wrote. “I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn’t print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I’m going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper.”

He followed through on that threat the following day. The president’s suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, names the Journal and reporters Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo, as well as the newspaper’s parent company News Corp, its founder Rupert Murdoch and its CEO Robert Thomson.

Attorneys representing Trump allege that the reporters “concocted this story to malign President Trump’s character and integrity and deceptively portray him in a false light,” showing “glaring failures in journalistic ethics and standards of accurate reporting.”

A spokesperson for the paper’s publisher, Dow Jones, told the Journal, “We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”

June 30, 2025 | Trump drops federal suit against Iowa pollster, refiles in state court

President Donald Trump dropped his federal lawsuit against Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer and The Des Moines Register on June 30, 2025, but filed a similar suit against them in state court the same day.

Trump filed his original suit in December 2024 in an Iowa district court, alleging that Selzer’s Nov. 2 poll showing Vice President Kamala Harris winning the state amounted to “brazen election interference.” The case was quickly moved to federal court following a request by the Register’s parent company, Gannett.

Attorneys representing the president had challenged the venue change, but a federal judge ruled against them in May 2025. An appeal of that ruling was pending when Trump’s team elected to dismiss the case altogether on June 30.

The press defendants asked the court to void the dismissal in a filing the same day, noting that the case cannot be dismissed while appellate proceedings are ongoing. They added that the dismissal was also in conjunction with a newly filed suit in the Iowa District Court for Polk County that has nearly identical claims.

“The timing of this filing is significant: it is one day before Iowa’s Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (commonly known as an ‘anti-SLAPP law’) goes into effect,” the filing continued, referring to legal actions brought to chill speech.

“President Trump’s present Notice of Voluntary Removal would effectively escape the jurisdiction of the federal courts in time to restate his claims in Iowa’s state court without being subject to Iowa’s anti-SLAPP law,” the filing added.

In a statement to Politico, the Register said that the intent of Trump’s dismissal is clear: to avoid dismissal of his claims in federal court.

“The Des Moines Register will continue to resist President Trump’s litigation gamesmanship,” spokesperson Lark-Marie Anton said, “and believes that regardless of the forum it will be successful in defending its rights under the First Amendment.”

Dec. 16, 2024 | Suit filed against Iowa pollster, Des Moines Register for alleged ‘election interference’

Donald Trump followed through on his threat to sue Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer, The Des Moines Register reported, filing a lawsuit in Iowa district court on Dec. 16, 2024, against Selzer and her polling company, as well as the Register and its parent company, Gannett.

The suit alleges that Selzer’s Nov. 2 poll showing Vice President Kamala Harris winning the state amounted to “brazen election interference” and violated the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act. The suit marks the second time Trump has used state consumer protection laws to attack a news outlet.

Trump justified the Iowa lawsuit during a news conference announcing it, according to Puck. “We have to straighten out the press,” Trump reportedly said. “Our press is very corrupt, almost as corrupt as our elections.”

Register spokesperson Lark-Marie Anton said in a statement that the newspaper stands by its reporting and believes the lawsuit is meritless.

“We have acknowledged that the Selzer/Des Moines Register pre-election poll did not reflect the ultimate margin of President Trump’s Election Day victory in Iowa by releasing the poll’s full demographics, crosstabs, weighted and unweighted data, as well as a technical explanation from pollster Ann Selzer,” Anton said.

The lawsuit was moved from state to federal court on Dec. 17, following a request by Gannett, according to court records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.