Friend,
Donald Trump has launched a chilling new legal assault on the free press, bolstered after ABC News paid a $15 million settlement in a defamation case brought by him.
On Monday, Trump filed a lawsuit against the Des Moines Register over a pre-election poll showing him trailing in the state. He has said he plans to file additional lawsuits against 60 Minutes, Bob Woodward, and the Pulitzer Prize board of directors.
Even if these suits are dismissed, they could cost the news outlets vast amounts of money in legal fees and send an implicit threat to every other news outlet.
This is the weaponization of presidential power on full display – and as a progressive, nonprofit news outlet, Common Dreams would be an obvious target for this kind of legal attack.
We will not cave to Trump, just as we would never cave to any government or political party. Our job is to expose and oppose authoritarianism—not be complicit in it. So Disney, which owns ABC News, may settle to protect its vast business interests during the coming Trump years, but we’ll never bow to such intimidation.
Common Dreams is funded only by readers like you. That’s what keeps us independent and that’s what distinguishes us from corporate outlets. Now, we need our supporters more than ever to make sure we have the financial backing to survive whatever attacks come our way.
So we’re asking you today: Will you donate $27 – or whatever amount you can afford, large or small – to Common Dreams and help support nonprofit progressive journalism?
