New York Times Reporter Adam Liptak published an article exploring how libel is affecting the Trump administration.

Donald Trump has been waging a war against journalists from some of the nation’s largest and most respected news outlets, including the New York Times. Personally, I believe that his constant attacks against these news outlets is harming his administration’s credibility and the system of democracy in the United States. In a recent Tweet, Trump described his unhappiness with how he is being portrayed by the news media and said that he would like to “change libel laws”. Liptak explained that libel laws are controlled by the states, meaning that state legislators are the only ones that can change them. Additionally, a precedent was set in the Supreme Court Case New York Times v. Sullivan that required public figures to prove that there was actual malice. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan wrote that debate may include unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials but this would not be considered libel because of the need to have uninhibited, robust and wide open debates. Libel laws will not be able to change without the Supreme Court overruling the case that set the precedent.