California Gov. Gavin Newsom sues Fox News over alleged defamation in story about call with Trump

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – California Gov. Gavin Newsom sued Fox News on Friday over alleged defamation, saying the network knowingly aired false information about a phone call he had with President Donald Trump around the time the National Guard was sent Los Angeles.

The lawsuit alleges Fox News anchor Jesse Watters edited out key information from a clip of Trump talking about calling Newsom, then used the edited video to assert that Newsom had lied about the two talking.

Newsom is asking for $787 million in punitive damages in his lawsuit filed in Delaware court where Fox is incorporated. That’s the same amount Fox agreed to pay in 2023 to settle a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems. The company said Fox had repeatedly aired false allegations that its equipment had switched votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden during the 2020 election, and the discovery process of the lawsuit revealed Fox’s efforts not to alienate conservatives in the network’s audience in the wake of Biden’s victory.

“If Fox News wants to lie to the American people on Donald Trump’s behalf, it should face consequences — just like it did in the Dominion case,” Newsom said in a statement. “I believe the American people should be able to trust the information they receive from a major news outlet.”

He asked a judge to order Fox News to stop broadcasting “the false, deceptive, and fraudulent video and accompanying statements” that Newsom said falsely say he lied about when he had spoken to Trump regarding the situation in Los Angeles, where protests erupted on June 6 over Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Fox News called the lawsuit “frivolous.”

“Gov. Newsom’s transparent publicity stunt is frivolous and designed to chill free speech critical of him. We will defend this case vigorously and look forward to it being dismissed,” the company said in a statement.

The law makes it difficult to prove defamation, but some cases result in settlements and, no matter the disposition, can tie up news outlets in expensive legal fights.

Particularly since taking office a second time, Trump has been aggressive in going after news organizations he feels has wronged him. He’s involved in settlement talks over his lawsuit against CBS News about a “60 Minutes” interview last fall with Democratic opponent Kamala Harris. This week, Trump’s lawyers threatened a lawsuit against CNN and The New York Times over their reporting of an initial assessment of damage to Iran’s nuclear program from a U.S. bombing.

Newsom’s lawsuit centers on the details of a phone call with the president.

Both Newsom and the White House have said the two spoke late at night on June 6 in California, which was already June 7 on the East Coast. Though the content of the call is not part of the lawsuit, Newsom has said the two never discussed Trump’s plan to deploy the National Guard, which he announced the next day. Trump said the deployment was necessary to protect federal buildings from people protesting increased immigration arrests.

Trump later announced he would also deploy Marines to the area.

On June 10, when 700 Marines arrived in the Los Angeles area, Trump told reporters he had spoken to Newsom “a day ago” about his decision to send troops. That day, Newsom posted on X that there had been no call.

“There was no call. Not even a voicemail,” Newsom wrote.

On the evening of June 10, the Watters Primetime show played a clip of Trump’s statement about his call with Newsom but removed Trump’s comment that the call was “a day ago,” the lawsuit said. Watters also referred to call logs another Fox News reporter had posted online showing the phone call the two had on June 6.

“Why would Newsom lie and claim Trump never called him? Why would he do that?” Watters asked on air, according to the lawsuit. The segment included text across the bottom of the screen that said “Gavin Lied About Trump’s Call.”

Newsom’s suit argues that by editing the material, Fox “maliciously lied as a means to sabotage informed national discussion.”

Precise details about when the call happened are important because the days when Trump deployed the Guard to Los Angeles despite Newsom’s opposition “represented an unprecedented moment,” Newsom’s lawyers wrote in a letter to Fox demanding a retraction and on-air apology.

“History was occurring in real time. It is precisely why reporters asked President Trump the very question that prompted this matter: when did he last speak with Governor Newsom,” the letter said.