"You can’t say things that are false, knowingly false and be able to smile as money pours into your bank account,” 
Donald Trump


Trump revives promise to toughen libel laws

President Trump on Wednesday revived a campaign promise to toughen America’s libel laws to make it easier for people to sue media outlets for damages.

“We are going to take a strong look at our country’s libel laws so that when somebody says something that is false and defamatory about someone, that person will have meaningful recourse in our courts,” Trump said from the White House before his first cabinet meeting of 2018.

The president — who routinely rails against “fake news” and has called the ongoing federal investigation into Russian meddling in the election “a hoax” — lambasted people who don’t tell the truth.

“If somebody says something that’s totally false and knowingly false, that the person that has been abused, defamed, libeled, will have meaningful recourse,” he said.

“Our current libel laws are a sham and a disgrace and do not represent American values or American fairness. We want fairness. You can’t say things that are false, knowingly false and be able to smile as money pours into your bank account,” he continued.

The Washington Post and other fact-checking organizations have scrutinized the president’s own truthfulness since he assumed office nearly a year ago — with the paper finding that he made roughly 2,000 false or misleading claims.