California Governor Gavin Newsom threatened Fox News with a pricey legal battle unless the network issues an apology.
The Democratic lawmaker has launched a $787 million lawsuit against Fox News, accusing the network of knowingly spreading falsehoods about a phone conversation between him and President Donald Trump during a period of civil unrest in Los Angeles.
Filed in Delaware Superior Court, where Fox News is incorporated, the suit alleges that the network’s coverage defamed Newsom by suggesting he lied about speaking with President Trump.
At the core of the dispute is a segment that aired on June 10 featuring Fox News host Jesse Watters.
In that broadcast, Watters presented what he claimed was evidence that Trump had called Newsom earlier than the governor acknowledged.
JUST IN: California Governor Gavin Newsom sues Fox News for $800M, accusing the network of lying about his call with President Trump during the LA riots.
Newsom is specifically demanding an on-air apology from Jesse Watters.
“Mr. Newsom’s lawyers also sent Fox News a letter… pic.twitter.com/PskmgEjGnZ
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 27, 2025
Attorneys representing Newsom, Michael Teter and Mark Bankson, also sent Fox News a formal letter calling for a public retraction and an apology aired on television.
“If Fox News fails to issue a formal retraction and on-air apology, we will proceed with the lawsuit so that a jury can determine Fox News’s culpability and assign a monetary value to its ‘blatantly unethical’ conduct,” the attorneys wrote.
The footage at issue included a clip of President Trump speaking from the Oval Office in which he said he had contacted Newsom “a day ago.”
That portion of the quote was used by Watters to argue that Newsom had been dishonest when he denied the conversation took place.
Fox News included a screenshot that it said was obtained from the White House, showing a 16-minute phone call between Trump and Newsom that took place in the early hours of June 7, which corresponded to the late evening June 6 in California.
No more lies.
I’m suing Fox News for $787 million.https://t.co/L73VUsPsuB pic.twitter.com/qKoRaxHRDW
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 27, 2025
The call happened shortly after President Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles in response to escalating anti-ICE demonstrations.
Watters then posed a rhetorical question to his viewers: “Why would Newsom lie and claim Trump never called him?” The screenshot remained visible as Watters made the claim.
Newsom’s legal team argues that the segment selectively edited video to mislead viewers by omitting key context.
According to them, the segment was designed to paint Newsom as deceitful, even though he had already acknowledged the earlier call.
Newsom maintains that the issue was not whether the call happened at all, but when it took place.
See you in court, @FoxNews. pic.twitter.com/26zp3kWL4K
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 27, 2025
The governor’s lawsuit accuses Fox News of deliberately manipulating the timeline and misleading the public.
He is now seeking damages equal to what Fox paid in a separate defamation settlement with Dominion Voting Systems in 2023.
Newsom is also requesting a judicial order barring the network from airing future reports that make similar claims about the incident.
“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 issued Friday.
Newsom on Fox Lawsuit: They knowingly misrepresented the facts. They altered and edited the President of the United States’ statements—video—and knowingly claimed that I lied about a phone call with Donald Trump.
As we now know, Donald Trump lied about a phone call he had with… pic.twitter.com/nGg6k98mir
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 27, 2025
“I believe the American people should be able to trust the information they receive from a major news outlet. Until Fox is willing to be truthful, I will keep fighting against their propaganda machine,” he added.
In one of his social media posts on X, Newsom mocked Trump’s recollection of the timeline, saying, “If only he had shown the right ones,” and claiming Trump “doesn’t even know what day it is.”
Newsom’s legal team maintains that the misleading portrayal harmed the governor’s credibility with voters, potentially undermining his standing in future elections.
“By disregarding basic journalistic ethics in favor of malicious propaganda, Fox continues to play a major role in the further erosion of the bedrock principles of informed representative government,” the lawsuit says.
“Setting the record straight and confronting Fox’s dishonest practices are critical to protecting democracy from being overrun by disinformation and lies.”
.@GavinNewsom responds to Fox News' statement in light of his defamation lawsuit: "It's almost verbatim what they said in the Dominion case… 787 million reasons they fell short." pic.twitter.com/i7ZkfcYIUe
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) June 27, 2025
In response, Fox News issued a statement dismissing the suit as political theater.
“Gov. Newsom’s transparent publicity stunt is frivolous and designed to chill free speech critical of him,” the network said. “We will defend this case vigorously and look forward to it being dismissed.”
As part of his legal strategy, Newsom indicated he would drop the lawsuit if Fox News and Watters issue a retraction and apology.
