Gavin Newsom files $787M defamation suit, says Fox News lied about Trump call
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- Gavin Newsom filed a $787M defamation lawsuit against Fox News in Delaware.
- Newsom accuses Fox of airing false claims about a June 2025 call with Trump.
- Lawsuit seeks retraction and apology; mirrors damages paid in 2023 Dominion case.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom sued Fox News, accusing the conservative media network of lying on-air about a phone call he had with President Donald Trump to smear him as a sometime White House opponent.
The defamation lawsuit, filed in Delaware Superior Court, seeks $787 million in damages and alleges that Fox reporters and producers intentionally misrepresented when Newsom and Trump last spoke “to create false propaganda to defend the President while casting Governor Newsom as dishonest.” Newsom, suing in his personal capacity, named several Fox personalities including Jesse Watters and John Roberts.
The network has since aired clips accusing Newsom of lying about the timing of the phone call and suggesting that local authorities lost control of anti-immigration protests — events that have dominated right-wing media coverage.
The governor and potential presidential contender previously tried to court the White House for federal aid as wildfires raged in Los Angeles. He has since taken a more combative tone towards Trump in recent weeks in the media and online.
Newsom said he last spoke to Trump on June 7, in a brief late-night phone call where the president did not mention the Pentagon’s plans to wrest control of the California National Guard, now the subject of ongoing litigation. Trump told reporters on June 10 that he had spoke with Newsom the day before, which the governor’s press refuted with screenshots of call logs.
“This lawsuit concerns Fox’s willingness to protect President Trump from his own false statements by smearing his political opponent Governor Newsom in a dispute over when the two last spoke during a period of national strife,” Newsom’s lawyers wrote in the complaint filed in New Castle County. As a public figure, Newsom must prove the network acted with “actual malice” and knowingly published statements they knew were untrue.
The financial damages he is seeking are identical to the amount Fox agreed to pay in 2023 to avert a lengthy and potential embarrassing trial with Dominion Voting Systems, which sued the network for allegedly knowingly publishing lies that the voting system had rigged the 2020 election in favor of Joe Biden. The network did not issue an apology in exchange for agreeing to the payout.
Fox News officials denied the allegations and described the lawsuit as politically motivated, saying they would fight it in court.
“Gov. Newsom’s transparent publicity stunt is frivolous and designed to chill free speech critical of him,” a spokesperson for Fox News said “We will defend this case vigorously and look forward to it being dismissed.”
Newsom’s lawyers also sent a demand letter to Fox News, saying he would voluntarily drop the lawsuit if Fox retracted its claims and issued an on-air apology.
“We expect that you will give the same airtime in retracting these falsehoods as you spent presenting and amplifying them,” they wrote.
“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. Until Fox is willing to be truthful, I will keep fighting against their propaganda machine.”
This story was originally published June 27, 2025 at 8:09 AM with the headline "Gavin Newsom files $787M defamation suit, says Fox News lied about Trump call."
