Report this ad Learn more aboutRefinitiv My News Trump sues Des Moines Register, vows to pursue more defamation claims By Helen Coster and Jack Queen December 18, 20242:07 AM GMT+6Updated 5 hours ago Item 1 of 4 U.S. President-elect Donald Trump delivers remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., December 16, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo [1/4]U.S. President-elect Donald Trump delivers remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., December 16, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab Summary Companies Trump sues Des Moines Register and top pollster Trump considers suing social media influencers for defamation Trump has already sued ABC News, which settled, and CBS News Legal experts warn of chilling effect on news coverage Lawsuits by Trump would still face steep hurdles in court NEW YORK, Dec 17 (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against the Des Moines Register newspaper and its former top pollster, the day after he stepped up his legal threats against news outlets and said he would also consider suing social media influencers for defamation. The lawsuit filed Monday night in Iowa's Polk County seeks "accountability for brazen election interference committed by" the newspaper and pollster J. Ann Selzer over its poll published on Nov. 2. That poll showed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris leading Trump by 13 percentage points in Iowa. We are here to announce that Luigi Mangione, the defendant, "Selzer’s polling 'miss' was not an astonishing coincidence—it was intentional," the lawsuit said. "As President Trump observed: 'She knew exactly what she was doing.'" The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and an order barring the Des Moines Register from engaging in "ongoing deceptive and misleading acts and practices" related to polling. A Des Moines Register representative said the organization stands by its reporting and believes the lawsuit is without merit. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Report this ad Selzer declined to comment. Trump filed the lawsuit just days after ABC News agreed to settle a defamation case he brought by donating $15 million to his presidential library and publicly apologizing for comments by anchor George Stephanopoulos, who inaccurately said the president-elect had been found liable for rape. Trump has touted the settlement as a major victory, and there are already signs that it could embolden his lawyers on fights with media companies. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Report this ad On Tuesday, Trump's lawyers cited the ABC deal in a letter to the judge overseeing the president-elect's copyright lawsuit against Simon & Schuster over audio recordings of an author's interviews with Trump, saying they hope the book publisher will "follow Mr. Stephanopoulos’ expression of contrition." "Since President Trump’s decisive victory resulting (in) him being due to become the 47th President of the United States, there has been a renewed accountability among those who violated his rights over the last four years," Trump's lawyers said. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Report this ad A representative for Simon & Schuster did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit, which was filed in New York federal court. Some legal experts say Trump's comments and legal actions risk chilling news coverage of the incoming administration even if legal protections for journalists are for now robust. “There is some serious concern that the erosion of legal protections could lead to less aggressive news coverage,” said Syracuse University communications professor Roy Gutterman.