--- title: Donald Trump Promises To Make America Litigious Again description: The White House hopeful warns reporters that a Trump Presidency would make it easier for journalists to be sued for libel. canonical: https://time.com/4239386/donald-trump-libel-freedom-of-press/ copyright: © 2026 TIME USA, LLC. All Rights Reserved. terms: https://legal.time.com/terms-of-service/ license_contact: syndication@time.com author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-26T20:17:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:49:29.512Z article:section: Politics og:title: How Donald Trump Wants to Limit Free Press og:description: The White House hopeful warns reporters that he wants to make suing them easier og:url: https://time.com/4239386/donald-trump-libel-freedom-of-press/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt02a730e2154c7611/69887f5bcf40a80ccdc422c0/trump_litigation.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3978 og:image:height: 2238 og:image:alt: Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Fort Worth, Texas og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Donald Trump Wants to Limit Free Press twitter:description: The White House hopeful warns reporters that he wants to make suing them easier twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt02a730e2154c7611/69887f5bcf40a80ccdc422c0/trump_litigation.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Promises to Make America Litigious Again > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=d1b4e8e4-9b7f-4414-a81a-f95ae17d9f4a&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Watch Young Republicans Explain What They Think of GOP Candidates [Watch (HLS stream): Watch Young Republicans Explain What They Think of GOP Candidates](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/3wQIKwZN.m3u8) (1:57)  _Published 2016-02-11. GOPMIllenials_v2_  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Feb 26, 2016 8:17 PM UTC GOPMIllenials\_v2  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Feb 26, 2016 8:17 PM UTC Donald Trump won raucous cheers from his Fort Worth, Texas, crowd on Friday when he promised supporters that he would make it easier for them to sue journalists with whom they disagreed. Even so, it was not the only outrageous thing the billionaire offered his crowd a day after weathering his toughest debate yet and picking up the backing from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. His giant rally in deeply conservative Texas was a reminder that no one in the Republican field of White House hopefuls can put on a show like Trump. Among the rally’s Trump talking points: Reporters are dishonest, deserve to be punished and their corporate owners want to push a political agenda. Rivals Marco Rubio is a “low-life” and Ted Cruz is “a liar.” Christians need their rights protected, Muslims should be banned from coming to the United States, and Mexico is still going to pay for an ever-taller wall along the border. In a new twist on how Trump would promote his agenda—and defend it from scrutiny—he promised that he would scrap libel laws that guide when journalists can, and cannot, be sued. It was a direct assault on the media that have made Trump, a former reality television host, and his candidacy possible. “One of the things I’m going to do if I win—and I hope we do, and we’re certainly leading—I’m going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money,” Trump said of a litigation wave against major news organizations. “So when The New York _Times_ writes a hit piece, which is a total disgrace, or when the Washington _Post_, which is there for other reasons writes a hit piece, we can sue them and win money instead of having no chance of winning because they’re totally protected,” Trump said. The GOP frontrunner specifically called out The Washington _Post_ and its owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, for trying to push a political agenda to help make money. He also called The New York _Times_ a failing giant. Journalists in the United States generally cannot be sued by public figures—such as Trump—unless the official can prove that they published information that they know to be wrong in an effort to hurt the official. Errors of facts or differing in opinions alone have generally been protected for the last half-century under First Amendment case law. Trump seems not to care, and it’s not clear that he would respect the limits of the Presidency. As with so much of his agenda, he envisions his strong will and personality can undo questions about separation of powers between government branches, ignore or cajole Congress to act, and bully the courts to see things his way. As he does so often at his rallies, he urged his crowd to jeer the reporters who have broadcast his campaign to the public. “We’re going to open up those libel laws. We’re going to have people sue you like you’ve never been sued before,” Trump roared at reporters in the back of the room. It was a remarkable moment at one of the most dynamic rallies yet this campaign. One of Trump’s frequent targets was Rubio, who, in Trump’s telling, cannot handle himself on the world stage and sweats so much when nervous. “It’s Rubio,” Trump said as he splashed water onto the crowd. Earlier in the day, Rubio had a rally mocking Trump’s spelling on Twitter. Rubio also jabbed at Trump’s age. “He would be the oldest president ever elected,” Rubio said. Trump fired back with more liquid ridicule. “Help me, I need water. Help,” he mimicked Rubio. “This total choke artist. … When you’re a choke artist, you’re always a choke artist.” In Donald Trump’s America, however, no one might find out. After all, Rubio could simply shut down reports of his troubles with a libel suit. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] I think it's much easier to be, at my age to be a democrat than a republican. In AP government we took a quiz to see which presidential candidate we agree with most and everyone in my family got Michael Rubio. I think he's risen from the bottom and that gives me motivation to do the same. I know this issue, not because I read about it in a book I see it every day. I'm a Republican because I do not like poverty. Same thing as the Democrats, but I have a different way of going about it. I'm Republican because that's how I came up. He's very, very pro- life. That means a lot to me. Another thing is, taxes I guess. I don't like Taxes. The environment is my biggest concern. The democrats address the social issues that we pay attention to and as high school students. We can't keep spending this much money as a federal government. The republicans need to do a little more. Donald Trump, he's a very smart man. That's way a lot of younger guys I know are really into Trump. They think he's going to shake things up and he's like gonna build a wall [ UNKNOWN ] so manly, and I'm like guys . >> Since the summer I've seen almost all the candidates on the republican side . >> I followed candidates on twitter actually. I've gotten there signatures I've talked to them. Donald Trumps are pretty funny also follow [ UNKNOWN ] his family put out a cute video I loved it . >> On Facebook I always see articles about how. Bernie Sanders is like the hero, how Donald Trump is a total bigot, how everyone in the Republican Party is old, white and racist. This is an election where the issues are important but almost equally as important Are the way that people run campaigns. But then you see we have two Hispanic candidates running for office, we have a black candidate, Ben Carson, we have Carly Fiorina, a woman, all running for office. Just the way the candidates present themselves and the way they treat one another, the way they interact with one another, and the way they interact with voters. 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