California Governor Gavin Newsom filed a $787 million defamation lawsuit against Fox News on Friday, accusing the network and host Jesse Watters of falsely portraying him as lying about phone calls with President Donald Trump.
Filed in Delaware Superior Court, the suit claims Fox aired deceptively edited footage of Trump and misled viewers during Watters' program to suggest Newsom denied speaking to the president before National Guard troops were deployed to Los Angeles.
No more lies.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 27, 2025
I’m suing Fox News for $787 million.https://t.co/L73VUsPsuB pic.twitter.com/qKoRaxHRDW
Newsom’s team says the last call occurred on June 7 — a fact they say Fox corroborated off-air.
The suit mirrors Fox’s $787.5 million settlement with Dominion in 2023 and adds to Newsom’s growing legal-media rivalry with Trump. Newsom will drop the suit if Fox retracts its claim and apologizes.
