Trump threatens $5 billion defamation lawsuit against Center for American Progress over National Guard report

Donald Trump's personal legal team is threatening a $5 billion defamation lawsuit against the Center for American Progress over a July 2026 report. The report concludes that Trump's $1.7 billion National Guard deployments in cities like Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., failed to reduce urban crime. The think tank has rejected the threat as a baseless attempt to silence independent research, while legal experts note that Trump faces a high legal hurdle to prove actual malice.

Trump defamation lawsuit threat

• ▪The threat letter sent by Alejandro Brito on August 17, 2026, set a deadline of 5 p.m. on August 21, 2026, for the Center for American Progress to retract its report, apologize, and compensate Donald Trump.
• ▪Alejandro Brito, a personal lawyer for Donald Trump, sent a letter to the Center for American Progress threatening a defamation lawsuit seeking at least $5 billion in damages.

CAP National Guard report findings

• ▪The Center for American Progress released a report on July 13, 2026, concluding that Donald Trump's $1.7 billion National Guard deployments in Washington D.C., Memphis, and Los Angeles failed to have a measurable impact on urban crime.
• ▪The Center for American Progress report found that violent crime rates in cities without National Guard interventions decreased at statistically similar rates to those that had interventions, noting that violent crime began falling before Donald Trump took office in 2025.

First Amendment protections

• ▪The Center for American Progress president and CEO Neera Tanden rejected the lawsuit threat as a baseless attack on First Amendment protections and a transparent attempt to silence independent research.
• ▪Kevin Metz, an attorney for the Center for American Progress, responded to the threat letter by stating that truth cannot be defamation and that the right to express dissent over policy choices is central to American democracy.

Defamation law standards

• ▪Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson noted that Donald Trump would have to prove the criticized statements were reasonably understood as being about him personally rather than general criticisms of his administration.
• ▪Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson stated that Donald Trump would face a difficult legal standard in a defamation lawsuit because public figures must prove actual malice, meaning the defendant knew a statement was false or acted in reckless disregard of its falsity.

National Guard deployment history

• ▪The Trump administration first deployed National Guard troops to Los Angeles in June 2025 to protect federal immigration and law enforcement officials amid protests over immigration raids.
• ▪Donald Trump deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., Memphis, and New Orleans following the initial June 2025 deployment in Los Angeles.

CAP institutional background

• ▪The Center for American Progress, a leading liberal think tank based in Washington, was founded in 2003 by former Clinton White House chief of staff John Podesta.
• ▪John Podesta, the founder of the Center for American Progress, served as the chair of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.

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