Trump Threatens to Sue Journalists Over Use of Anonymous Sources: ‘A Big Price Should Be Paid’

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

President Donald Trump threatened to sue members of the media who make use of “anonymous sources” on Wednesday morning, arguing that “a big price should be paid” for their alleged “blatant dishonesty.”

“As a President who is being given credit for having the Best Opening Month of any President in history, quite naturally, here come the Fake books and stories with the so-called ‘anonymous,’ or ‘off the record,’ quotes,” wrote Trump in a post on Truth Social. “At some point I am going to sue some of these dishonest authors and book publishers, or even media in general, to find out whether or not these ‘anonymous sources’ even exist, which they largely do not. They are made up, defamatory fiction, and a big price should be paid for this blatant dishonesty. I’ll do it as a service to our Country. Who knows, maybe we will create some NICE NEW LAW!!!”

The declaration comes on the heels of a number of legal actions from the president that some observers have deemed disturbing. In December, ABC News agreed to a $16 million settlement with the then president-elect over anchor George Stephanopoulos’s erroneous claim that Trump had been found civilly liable for raping author E. Jean Carroll.

Trump is also suing CBS for $20 billion — in addition to siccing the FCC on the network — for supposedly editing an interview with Kamala Harris to benefit her presidential campaign and thus harm Trump’s.

The Wall Street Journal weighed in on that last matter in an editorial earlier this month that observed, “Mr. Trump clearly wants to intimidate the press, and it’s no credit to the FCC to see it reinforcing that with an inquiry. The bad Biden FCC precedent against Fox is no justification for the Trump FCC to do the same against the liberal press.”