Several major media companies targeted by litigation from President Trump and top administration officials are now fighting back in court, signaling heightened tensions between the president and a press he and his allies view as hostile.

This marks a change from the first year of Trump’s second term, when many media companies settled high-profile lawsuits. Now, more outlets appear willing to invest resources to defend themselves against Trump’s claims.

Within the past year, Trump, in his personal capacity, has sued The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the BBC. Additionally, several Cabinet secretaries have threatened or filed lawsuits against other media organizations, including The Atlantic and MS NOW.

Many media outlets describe these legal actions as frivolous attempts to intimidate journalists and suppress independent reporting. Lisa Zycherman, vice president of legal programs at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, emphasized the importance of watching media companies fight these cases, noting that “governments can’t bring libel claims, so these sorts of lawsuits have really been against the norm and that seems to have been majorly disrupted [in the Trump era].”

Trump was quoted in the Oval Office saying, “We’re after leakers. And the way you find them is through the journalists.”

This shift toward courtroom resistance follows previous settlements where ABC paid Trump more than $15 million to settle a defamation claim over false statements made by anchor George Stephanopoulos, and CBS paid $16 million to resolve a lawsuit regarding an edited interview with former Vice President Harris aired on “60 Minutes.”

Sources indicate this new approach may reflect a broader willingness among media companies to challenge the administration’s legal tactics more vigorously.

Sources