ABC capitulated to Trump because its case wasn’t ironclad and it feared setting a bad precedent. CBS, with a stronger case, made a deal to avoid nasty regulatory consequences. The WSJ and the NYT have shown no interest in settling defamation cases in which the requested relief was in the billions of dollars. The NYT case, which was just filed a few days ago, has already been dismissed on the basis that Trump’s bombastic pleading style violated the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Defamation cases are obviously part of Trump’s tool kit when it comes to crushing dissent. Based on the current case law, they have little chance of success. What is he thinking? Three things: first, the mere size of the demanded relief may be enough to intimidate the MSM; second, that he might get lucky and draw a Trump judge (that didn’t happen in the NYT case); and third, that the Supreme Court could decide to overrule New York Times v. Sullivan. Justice Thomas has shown a strong inclination to do just that, although it is unlikely he can get a majority for that position.