Key facts
- Donald Trump is threatening a $5 billion lawsuit against the Center for American Progress (Cap).
- The lawsuit threat is over a Cap report criticizing the effectiveness of National Guard deployments.
- The report claims National Guard interventions did not measurably impact crime rates in targeted cities.
- Cap's president and CEO, Neera Tanden, stated the lawsuit is an attempt to silence the organization.
- Cap argues its findings are factual statements about crime statistics and government actions, not personal statements about Trump.
Donald Trump is threatening a $5 billion lawsuit against the liberal research organization Center for American Progress (Cap) unless it retracts a report that criticized the effectiveness of his administration's National Guard deployments. The report, released on July 13, argued that the National Guard's intervention in cities like Washington D.C., Memphis, and Los Angeles failed to significantly impact crime rates, despite an estimated cost of $1.7 billion. It also noted that crime rates began falling before Trump took office in 2025.
Alejandro Brito, a personal lawyer for Trump, sent a letter to Cap demanding the retraction, stating the report implies Trump deceived the American people, manipulated statistics, and abused authority. Cap, however, has stood by its findings, with President and CEO Neera Tanden calling the lawsuit threat baseless and an attempt to silence the organization. Cap maintains that its conclusions are factual statements about crime statistics and government actions, not personal attacks on Trump, and therefore cannot be defamatory.