Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz warned on Newsmax Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s ongoing defamation lawsuits against major media outlets are unlikely to succeed under current U.S. legal standards.
Trump sued The New York Times for $15 billion on Monday, accusing the paper of deliberately spreading “falsehoods” to damage his 2024 campaign and reputation. Appearing on “The Record with Greta Van Susteren,” Dershowitz said Trump faces an uphill legal battle because U.S. law requires him to prove not just false statements, but that they were made with “actual malice.”
“In the United States, he would have to prove not only that there were factual misstatements, not opinion, but factual misstatements, but that they were made with malice, that is, they were made with reckless disregard for the truth,” Dershowitz told host Greta Van Susteren.
While he personally believes the malice standard may be too restrictive, Dershowitz said that any meaningful change would require the Supreme Court to revisit and revise its own doctrine.
WATCH:
[rumble]https://rumble.com/embed/v6wwqsm/?pub=3rtroj[/rumble]
“So it’s going to be a very, very uphill fight in the United States, unless the Supreme Court begins to change its rules. Now, there are lawyers, including me, who are arguing that perhaps the malice restriction is too great, and judges shouldn’t be making decisions about malice. It should be left to the jury,” Dershowitz said. “But under existing law, it’s very uphill for a president to sue and be able to prove malice. Again, great irony, he might very well win in Great Britain.”
Trump’s lawsuit cited The New York Times’ endorsement of former Vice President Kamala Harris in September 2024, accusing the editorial board of painting Trump as a threat to American institutions. The lawsuit also flagged two articles published in October — one describing a “lifetime of scandals” and another warning Trump would govern like a dictator — as deliberately defamatory and malicious in tone.
Trump’s legal team said the Times and its reporters manipulated information and misrepresented facts with the goal of damaging Trump’s reputation. In response, a spokesperson for the Times dismissed the lawsuit as baseless and said the outlet would not be intimidated.
Separately, CBS and its parent company, Paramount, agreed to a $36 million settlement with Trump over claims that a “60 Minutes” segment had been deceptively edited. ABC News also reached a $15 million settlement in December 2024 after Trump sued the network for falsely suggesting a rape verdict against him, a statement made by George Stephanopoulos.
Additionally, the Times issued a correction Thursday for wrongly attributing an antisemitic quote to Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who had actually been criticizing the statement while reading it aloud from a third party’s post.
All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline, and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
- Gallego makes bold claim about Trump’s intentions toward Venezuela - December 17, 2025
- Scott Jennings clarifies where Wiles stands with Trump after Vanity Fair backlash - December 17, 2025
- Trump orders major escalation against Venezuela - December 17, 2025
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!
