Trump's Defamation Case

At this month's Grammys, host Trevor Noah was presenting the Song of the Year award to Billie Eilish, and he made this joke.

That is a Grammy that every artist wants, almost as much as Trump wants Greenland. Which makes sense, I mean, because Epstein's island is gone, he needs a new one to hang out with Bill Clinton, so...

About 90 minutes after the Grammys ended, at 1am, Donald Trump posted on Truth Social. I have never been to Epstein Island, nor anywhere close, and until tonight's false and defamatory statement have never been accused of being there, not even by the fake news media. It looks like I'll be sending my lawyers to sue this poor, pathetic dope of an MC for plenty of money. So does Trump actually have a defamation case here? To win a defamation case you need to prove 1.

The statement was false. 2. The statement was presented as fact, not opinion. 3. The statement was published or broadcasted to others. And 4. The statement caused actual damage to your reputation. But for a public figure, there's a fifth requirement, and it's a big one. Public officials and public figures have to prove something called actual malice. That doesn't mean that the person was being mean.

It means the person who made the statement either knew it was false or acted with reckless disregard for whether it was true or false. A comedian's joke in an award show is almost certainly protective speech and the actual malice standard makes it nearly impossible for a public figure, speech and the actual malice standard makes it nearly impossible for a public figure, especially the president, to win a defamation case over a punchline.