California Gov. Gavin Newsom sues Fox News over alleged defamation in
story about call with Trump
[June 28, 2025]
By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ
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 the lawsuit
filed in Delaware, 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 repeatedly
aired false allegations that its equipment had switched votes from
Donald Trump to Joe Biden during the 2020 election, and the discovery
process revealed the network's efforts not to alienate conservatives in
its 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 to stop broadcasting “the false,
deceptive, and fraudulent video and accompanying statements” that Newsom
said falsely say he lied about when he spoke to Trump regarding the
situation in Los Angeles, where protests erupted on June 6 over Trump's
immigration crackdown.
Fox News said in a statement that it would fight the lawsuit
“vigorously” and looks forward to it being dismissed.
“Gov. Newsom’s transparent publicity stunt is frivolous and designed to
chill free speech critical of him,” it said.
Newsom's suit centers on the details of the phone call with the
president.
Both Newsom and the White House have said the two spoke late at night
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 they
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 that 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 the social platform X that there had
been no call.
[to top of second column]
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Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks after U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer
granted an emergency temporary restraining order to stop President
Trump's deployment of the California National Guard, Thursday, June
12, 2025, at the California State Supreme Court building in San
Francisco. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, File)
“There was no call. Not even a voicemail,” Newsom wrote.
On the evening of June 10, Fox's Jesse 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 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 said 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.
The law makes it difficult to prove defamation, but some cases
result in settlements and, no matter the outcome, can tie up news
outlets in expensive legal fights.
Trump, particularly since taking office a second time, has been
aggressive in going after news organizations he feels has wronged
him.
He is in settlement talks over his lawsuit against CBS News about a
“60 Minutes” interview last fall with Democratic opponent Kamala
Harris.
And this week Trump’s lawyers threatened to sue 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.
___
Associated Press writer David Bauder contributed.
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