Donald Trump is suing Bob Woodward and Simon & Schuster over his audio interviews.
Donald Trump, no stranger to lawsuits, is starting one of his own against Bob Woodward and publisher Simon & Schuster, claiming they had no right to release The Trump Tapes, an audio “book” consisting of 20 recorded conversations between the two. Per the lawsuit:
Said audio was protected material, subject to various limitations on use and distribution—as a matter of copyright, license, contract, basic principles of the publishing industry, and core values of fairness and consent.
Trump is looking for nearly $50 million in damages, along with exclusive rights to the audio recordings Woodward used to write Rage, the 2020 tell-all blockbuster that revealed, among other things, that Trump has no idea how to talk to a reporter. He also doesn’t really understand the role of the courts: earlier this month he was fined $1 million for a “continuing misuse of the courts,” after attempting to sue both the Pulitzer Prize board and Twitter.
It’s unlikely Trump will be given satisfaction in this case; as Woodward’s lawyers point out:
All these interviews were on the record and recorded with President Trump’s knowledge and agreement. Moreover, it is in the public interest to have this historical record in Trump’s own words. We are confident that the facts and the law are in our favor.
But Donald Trump has never let the facts get in the way of a good lawsuit.
