Donald Trump sues CNN for defamation, seeking US$475 million in damages
- The ex-US president’s lawyers say the news network has tried to taint him with labels like ‘racist’, ‘Russian lacky’, ‘insurrectionist’ and ‘Hitler’
- The lawsuit claims CNN has ramped up a campaign of libel and slander against Trump out of fears he will run for re-election in 2024
Former US president Donald Trump sued CNN for defamation on Monday, seeking US$475 million in punitive damages and claiming that the network had carried out a “campaign of libel and slander” against him.
Trump claims in his lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that CNN had used its considerable influence as a leading news organisation to defeat him politically.
CNN declined to comment on the case.
Trump, a Republican, claims in the 29-page lawsuit that CNN had a long track record of criticising him but had ramped up its attacks in recent months because the network feared that he would run again for president in 2024.
“As a part of its concerted effort to tilt the political balance to the left, CNN has tried to taint the plaintiff with a series of ever-more scandalous, false, and defamatory labels of ‘racist’, ‘Russian lackey’, ‘insurrectionist’ and ultimately ‘Hitler’,” the lawsuit claims.