Trump sues Des Moines Register for "election interference" over Iowa poll
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The Des Moines Register's office in Des Monies, Iowa. Photo: Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
President-elect Trump on Monday sued the Des Moines Register and its top pollster for "brazen election interference" and "fraud" over a poll the newspaper published showing him on track to lose Iowa in the 2024 presidential election, according to the complaint.
Why it matters: The new lawsuit is a part of Trump's broader effort to target media companies with legal action for coverage he believes is unfair.
- While there are political levers that Trump can pull to target media companies, harassment campaigns and lawsuits that drain companies of time, money, resources, and trust are often easier and just as punitive.
- "It costs a lot of money to do it, but we have to straighten out the press," he said at a Monday press conference at Mar-a-Lago. He vowed to continue suing new outlets and influencers.
Driving the news: The lawsuit filed in Polk County, Iowa names the Des Moines Register, its parent company Gannett and J. Ann Selzer, the pollster.
- It cites the newspaper's coverage of the poll shortly before the election, which showed Trump trailing Vice President Harris by three percentage points in the historically red state.
- He ultimately won the state by more than 13 percentage points.
What they're saying: In a statement, Des Moines Register and Gannett spokesperson Lark-Marie Anton said,"We have acknowledged that the Selzer/Des Moines Register pre-election poll did not reflect the ultimate margin of President Trump's Election Day victory in Iowa by releasing the poll's full demographics, crosstabs, weighted and unweighted data, as well as a technical explanation from pollster Ann Selzer. We stand by our reporting on the matter and believe a lawsuit would be without merit."
Zoom in: The lawsuit alleges a violation of the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act, arguing that Trump and all Iowa and American voters were misled by the poll "for the improper purpose of deceptively influencing the outcome of the 2024 presidential election."
- Trump is asking the court for unspecified damages "due to the need to expend extensive time and resources, including direct federal campaign expenditures, to mitigate" the harm he alleges.
- The lawsuit additionally argues that Trump is entitled to statutory damages three times the actual damages suffered.
Zoom out: The lawsuit comes days after ABC agreed to a $15 million defamation settlement with Trump.
- The settlement stemmed from a May 2024 interview by ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos in which he incorrectly said Trump was liable for rape, when in reality he was liable for assault and defamation.
The big picture: Trump is linked to several active lawsuits against media companies.
- Those include a $10 billion deceptive trade practice lawsuit against CBS and a $3.8 billion defamation lawsuit against The Washington Post from Trump's social media company.
The intrigue: Selzer announced she was ending political polling for the DSM Register shortly after November's election, a decision she said had been in the works for more than a year.
- Carol Hunter, the paper's executive editor, announced her retirement last week.
