去年夏天，《华尔街日报》报道了唐纳德·特朗普据称在2003年发给杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的生日贺词，这给总统带来了负面关注。文章重点提到了特朗普明显的手写便条，内容打印在一幅裸体女性轮廓素描内，并签名在私处位置。
Last summer, The Wall Street Journal reported on Donald Trump’s alleged 2003 birthday message to Jeffrey Epstein, which generated the wrong kind of attention for the president. The article highlighted Trump’s apparent note, typed within a sketched outline of a naked woman and signed in the pubic area.
“生日快乐——愿每一天都成为另一个美妙的秘密，”这张给爱泼斯坦的便条结尾写道。
“Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,” the note to Epstein concluded.
总统不仅否认写过这条信息，还以不加掩饰的威胁作出回应。“特朗普总统将很快起诉《华尔街日报》、新闻集团和默多克先生，”他在网上写道，用第三人称指代自己，原因不明。这位共和党人随后补充道：“《华尔街日报》刊登了一封伪造的信，据称是写给爱泼斯坦的。……我告诉过鲁珀特·默多克这是个骗局，他不该刊登这个假新闻。但他刊登了，现在我要把他和他那家三流报纸告个底朝天。”
The president not only denied having written the message; he also responded with unsubtle threats. “President Trump will be suing The Wall Street Journal, NewsCorp, and Mr. Murdoch, shortly,” he wrote online, referring to himself in the third person for reasons unknown. The Republican added soon after, “The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein. … I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn’t print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I’m going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper.”
7月中旬，总统确实提起了诽谤诉讼，要求陪审团审判，并寻求至少100亿美元的判决赔偿。春天时，该案败诉，一名联邦法官驳回了起诉。
In mid-July, the president did, in fact, file the defamation suit, seeking a jury trial and a judgment of at least $10 billion. In the spring, the case flopped when a federal judge dismissed it.
特朗普团队随即重新提起诉讼。结果再次败诉。《MS NOW》报道：一名联邦法官周六驳回了唐纳德·特朗普总统针对《华尔街日报》和鲁珀特·默多克提起的诉讼，该诉讼因该报关于他与已定罪性犯罪者杰弗里·爱泼斯坦关系的报道而起。
Team Trump refiled the case soon after. It then flopped again. MS NOW reported: A federal judge on Saturday dismissed President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch over the paper’s reporting on his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
美国地区法官达林·盖尔斯在周六下午的命令中驳回了该诉讼，称总统未能证明《华尔街日报》“出于实际恶意”行事。该案被驳回大约五周前，爱荷华州的一名法官驳回了特朗普针对《得梅因纪事报》及其前民调专家安·塞尔泽提起的诉讼，特朗普因不满一份民意调查结果而起诉了他们。
U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles tossed the suit in a Saturday afternoon order, saying the president failed to prove that The Journal had “acted with actual malice.”The rejection of the case came roughly five weeks after a judge in Iowa dismissed Trump’s lawsuit against The Des Moines and its former pollster, Ann Selzer, whom the president had sued in response to a public opinion poll he didn’t like.
爱荷华州地区法官斯科特·比蒂将此案定性为非同寻常，他表示，允许该诉讼及其“有缺陷”的主张继续进行，可能会产生寒蝉效应，从而“阻碍其他人报道和辩论公共事务”。共和党人的律师是否会提起上诉，时间会给出答案，但与此同时，我注意到，现任总统及其团队频繁与主要独立新闻机构打官司，最终却屡屡败诉。
Characterizing the case as extraordinary, Iowa District Judge Scott Beattie said that allowing the lawsuit and its “faulty” claims could have a chilling effect that could “discourage others from reporting on and debating public affairs.”Time will tell whether the Republican’s lawyers pursue appeals, but in the meantime, I’m struck by the frequency with which the incumbent president and his team pick legal fights with major independent news organizations, only to lose in the end.
例如，就在今年早些时候，特朗普媒体科技集团起诉《华盛顿邮报》，指控该报发动了一场“持续多年的十字军东征”，并参与了一项“阴谋”以损害该公司，索赔高达38亿美元。一名联邦法官驳回了该案，认定特朗普媒体科技集团未能提供可信证据。
For example, it was earlier this year when the Trump Media and Technology Group sued The Washington Post, accusing the newspaper of a “years-long crusade” and of being part of a “conspiracy” to harm the company, and seeking $3.8 billion in damages. A federal judge threw out the case, concluding that Trump Media had failed to produce credible evidence.
同样，特朗普竞选团队2020年起诉CNN的案件败诉。特朗普2021年起诉《纽约时报》的案件败诉。特朗普2023年起诉记者鲍勃·伍德沃德的案件败诉。特朗普竞选团队起诉《华盛顿邮报》的案件败诉。特朗普针对社交媒体巨头提起的集体诉讼也败诉了。
Similarly, the Trump campaign’s 2020 case against CNN failed. Trump’s 2021 case against The New York Times failed. Trump’s 2023 case against journalist Bob Woodward failed. The Trump campaign’s case against the Post failed. Trump’s class-action lawsuit against social media giants also failed.
也别忘了，去年特朗普对《纽约时报》提起150亿美元民事诉讼，仅四天后就被驳回，并非因为缺乏依据，而是因为一名联邦法官认定总统律师提交的法庭文件简直荒谬至极。两个月后，特朗普的媒体公司又在对《卫报》的诽谤诉讼中败诉。
Let’s also not forget that last year, Trump filed a $15 billion civil suit against the New York Times, which was thrown out four days later, not because it lacked merit, but because a federal judge found that the president’s lawyers’ court filing was simply too ridiculous. Two months later, Trump’s media company also lost a defamation suit against The Guardian.
他针对BBC提起的100亿美元诽谤诉讼尚未败诉，尽管该案进展对他并不算顺利。这种模式几乎毫不隐晦。
He hasn’t yet lost his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC, though the case isn’t exactly going well for him. The pattern is hardly subtle.
至于更大的背景，我们不应忽视反击重要性的教训。当特朗普对ABC新闻提起站不住脚的诉讼时，该网络及其母公司同意了一项极具争议的1600万美元和解。当他对CBS新闻提起更为薄弱的诉讼时，其所有者派拉蒙也达成了一项同样备受争议的1600万美元和解协议。
As for the larger context, let’s not miss the lesson on the importance of pushback. When Trump filed a dubious case against ABC News, the network and its corporate parent agreed to a highly controversial $16 million settlement. When he filed an even weaker case against CBS News, its owner, Paramount, also struck a contentious $16 million deal.
在随后的数周和数月里，特朗普反复拿这些有争议的和解协议，当作其攻击目标有罪的证据，尽管那些网络媒体否认有任何不当行为。
In the weeks and months that followed, Trump repeatedly pointed to these controversial settlement agreements as evidence of his targets’ guilt, even as those networks denied any wrongdoing.
与此同时，那些挺身而出、抵制荒唐恐吓手段的新闻机构最终获胜。
Meanwhile, news organizations that have stood up for themselves and resisted outlandish attempts at intimidation have prevailed.
这应给更广泛的政治界一个教训：抵抗比绥靖要成功得多。这在律师事务所身上如此，在高等教育界身上如此，在特朗普与独立新闻机构的法庭斗争中也是如此。
Let this be a lesson to the larger political world: Resistance is far more successful than appeasement. It’s true when it comes to law firms; it’s true when it comes to higher education; and it’s true in his court fights against independent news organizations.