US: Trump files $475 million defamation lawsuit against CNN

Former US president Donald Trump sued CNN for defamation on Monday, seeking $475 million in punitive damages and claiming that the network had carried out a "campaign of libel and slander" against him.

In his lawsuit — filed in a US District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida — Trump claimed that CNN had used its considerable influence as a leading news organisation to defeat him politically.

CNN declined to comment on the case.

In the 29-page lawsuit, Trump, a Republican, claimed that 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.

The lawsuit lists several instances in which CNN appeared to compare Trump to Hitler, especially a January 2022 special report by host Fareed Zakaria that included footage of the German dictator.

Trump — who in 2020 lost a re-election bid to Democrat Joe Biden — has not said whether he would seek re-election.

In a statement, the former president said he would be filing lawsuits against other major media companies "in the coming weeks and months", and that he could even take action against the congressional committee probing the attack on the US Capitol by his supporters on January 6, 2021.

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