FILE – Governor Gavin Newsom talks at the California State Supreme Court headquarters in San Francisco on Thursday, June 12, 2025, following the issuance of an emergency temporary restraining order by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer to prevent President Trump from deploying the California National Guard. (San Francisco Chronicle/Santiago Mejia via AP, File)AP
SAN FRANCISCO California Governor Gavin Newsom filed a lawsuit against Fox News on Friday, alleging that the network intentionally broadcast inaccurate information regarding a phone conversation he had with President Donald Trump during the period when the National Guard was dispatched to Los Angeles.
According to the lawsuit, Fox News host Jesse Watters allegedly omitted important details from a video clip showing Trump discussing phoning Newsom, then used the altered footage to claim that Newsom had misrepresented the two speaking.
In the complaint, which was filed in Delaware, where Fox is incorporated, Newsom is requesting $787 million in punitive damages.
In 2023, Fox consented to pay the same sum to resolve a lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems alleging defamation. The company said that during the 2020 election, Fox regularly broadcast untrue claims that its voting machines had shifted votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden. The investigation also exposed the network’s attempts to avoid offending conservative viewers following Biden’s win.
Fox News should be held accountable, as it was in the Dominion case, if it wishes to deceive the American people on Donald Trump’s behalf, Newsom said in a statement. I think a major news organization should be able to provide the American public with reliable information.
He requested that a judge order Fox to cease airing the fraudulent, dishonest, and deceptive video and related claims that Newsom claimed he made up when he spoke with Trump about the situation in Los Angeles, when protests broke out on June 6 over Trump’s crackdown on immigration.
In a statement, Fox News said it would firmly defend itself against the lawsuit and hoped it would be dismissed.
It said that Gov. Newsom’s blatant publicity ploy is pointless and intended to stifle free expression that criticizes him.
The specifics of the phone conversation with the president are at the heart of Newsom’s lawsuit.
The two chatted late on June 6 in California, which was already June 7 on the East Coast, according to Newsom and the White House. Newsom has stated that they never spoke about Trump’s plan to deploy the National Guard, which he announced the next day, even though the call’s substance is not included in the lawsuit. Trump said that the deployment was required to keep protesters of the rise in immigration arrests away from government buildings.
Later, Trump declared that he would send Marines to the region as well.
When 700 Marines arrived in the Los Angeles region on June 10, Trump informed reporters that he had discussed his plan to send troops with Newsom just the day before. Newsom reported that there had been no call on the social media site X that day.
No call came in. “No voicemail at all,” Newsom wrote.
According to the lawsuit, Fox’s Jesse Watters Primetime show showed a clip of Trump’s remarks regarding his call with Newsom on the evening of June 10 but took out his remark that the call had taken place a day earlier. Watters also cited online call logs that another Fox News reporter had shared, which detailed the June 6 conversation between the two.
Why would Newsom fabricate that he never received a call from Trump? How come he would do that? According to the lawsuit, Watters stated on air. The phrase “Gavin Lied About Trump’s Call” was displayed across the bottom of the screen during the broadcast.
According to Newsom’s lawsuit, Fox intentionally misled by altering the content in order to undermine thoughtful public discourse.
The exact time of the call is crucial because, according to Newsom’s attorneys, the days when Trump moved the Guard to Los Angeles in defiance of Newsom’s objections were a historic occasion. They demanded an on-air apology and retraction in a letter to Fox.
History was happening right then and there. According to the letter, this is the exact reason why reporters posed the question that started this issue: when did President Trump last talk with Governor Newsom?
Although it is difficult to prove defamation under the law, some cases end in settlements, and news organizations may be forced to participate in costly legal battles regardless of the outcome.
Trump has been relentless in attacking news outlets he believes have harmed him, especially since he was elected president a second time.
Regarding his lawsuit against CBS News for a 60-minute interview with Democratic opponent Kamala Harris last autumn, he is currently negotiating a settlement.
Additionally, Trump’s attorneys threatened to sue CNN and The New York Times this week for publishing an early estimate of the harm a U.S. strike might cause to Iran’s nuclear program.
