California Governor Gavin Newsom is going head-to-head with Fox News, filing a $787 million defamation lawsuit over claims that the network knowingly spread false information about a phone call he had—or didn’t have—with Donald Trump earlier this month.
Newsom filed the suit Friday in Delaware Superior Court, the same jurisdiction where Fox News previously faced a high-profile legal loss in the Dominion Voting Systems case. The dollar figure in Newsom’s suit? A not-so-subtle $787 million—the same amount Fox Corp. paid Dominion in 2023 to settle a similar defamation case.
The controversy centers around comments made by Fox News host Jesse Watters, who accused Newsom of lying about whether Trump ever called him during a critical moment on June 9. According to Newsom, no such call was made, and Fox’s reporting falsely painted him as dishonest—all while boosting Trump in the middle of a heated political feud between the two.
The governor didn’t mince words. “No more lies,” Newsom tweeted, making it clear he’s not backing down. His legal team is demanding a full on-air retraction and public apology from both Watters and the network. They’ve even offered to voluntarily dismiss the suit—if Fox takes those steps.
“If Fox News wants to lie to the American people on Donald Trump’s behalf, it should face consequences—just like it did in the Dominion case,” Newsom said in a statement to Politico.
The feud between Trump and Newsom has grown more public in recent weeks, particularly over the federal deployment of troops in Los Angeles. Newsom has pushed back hard on Trump’s immigration enforcement strategy, and this lawsuit suggests the battle is only heating up.
