Trump Threatens Lawsuit Against Nonprofit Questioning National Guard Crime Plan
FlatRigor 656 sources
The Story
President Trump's legal team is threatening to sue the left-leaning think tank Center for American Progress (CAP) for defamation over a July report. The report found no evidence that National Guard deployments have reduced violent crime. In an August 17 letter, Trump's lawyer, Alejandro Brito, claimed the report contains materially false statements intended to damage the president. Brito set a deadline of 5 p.m. Friday for CAP to retract the report, apologize, and compensate the president, warning of a lawsuit seeking at least $5 billion in damages. Kevin Metz, an attorney for CAP, responded in a letter, stating, "This is utterly absurd: truth is not and cannot be defamation." CAP President and CEO Neera Tanden said the threatened lawsuit's attack on facts and evidence is baseless, calling it a transparent attempt to silence us. Tanden affirmed CAP will neither cower nor bend in the face of it. Both letters were obtained by CBS News. The Trump administration first deployed National Guard troops to Los Angeles in June 2025 to protect federal immigration officials and other federal law enforcement amid protests over immigration raids. Two months later, Trump announced Guard troops would also deploy to Washington, D.C., to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse. Deployments to Memphis and New Orleans followed. The report that drew the president's ire relied on multiple analyses of citywide crime data in those communities. US Attorney Jeanine Pirro defended Trump's troop surge in a video posted to X, claiming the results have been undeniable and showing news clips noting plunging rates of violent crime and property crimes. Pirro criticized a USA Today op-ed titled "Trump wastes billions deploying National Guard troops to DC," which is central to Trump's defamation claims. Roughly one year ago, Trump began deploying thousands of National Guard troops to D.C. to curb violent crime and support immigration enforcement. The effort has cost approximately $1.65 million a day, while D.C.'s local police budget totals about $1.5 million daily. The FBI reported last week that violent crime rates were down nationwide in 2025.
The Spread
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What they agree on
- President Trump's legal team is threatening a defamation lawsuit against the Center for American Progress (CAP) over a report questioning the effectiveness of National Guard deployments in reducing crime.
- Trump's lawyer, Alejandro Brito, demanded CAP retract its report, apologize, and provide compensation, threatening a lawsuit for at least $5 billion in damages.
- CAP President and CEO Neera Tanden stated the organization will not retract the report, asserting that the right to disagree with government policy is protected by the First Amendment.
- The CAP report concluded that National Guard deployments in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Memphis, and New Orleans "had no measurable effect on violent crime, homicides, or gun victimizations."
- The Trump administration began deploying National Guard troops in June 2025, initially to Los Angeles, and later to Washington D.C. and other cities.
Where they split
- CBS News and AP News focus on the general threat of a lawsuit against a nonprofit that questioned the National Guard plan, providing a broad overview of the legal dispute.
- The Independent highlights US Attorney Jeanine Pirro's defense of Trump's troop surge and her criticism of a USA Today op-ed, connecting the lawsuit threat to Pirro's job security.
- HuffPost and Common Dreams frame the story as Trump threatening to sue a think tank for exposing the "folly" or finding he is "wrong," emphasizing the political implications of the report's findings.
- Just The News specifically identifies CAP as a "liberal think tank" in its headline, providing a political label for the organization.
Source Perspectives
Left4 sources
Center1 source
Right1 source