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Steve Wynn’s Revenge & Defamation Nation

Trump allies sense a more favorable environment for waging lawfare against media companies, raising the question of whether the Supreme Court might reconsider Times v. Sullivan—and what the media might do to fight back.

Steve Wynn
Steve Wynn’s ultimate goal is for the justices to reconsider the “actual malice” standard that public figures must meet to prevail in libel suits, which was established by the landmark 1964 ruling New York Times Co. vs. Sullivan. Photo: David Becker/WireImage
Eriq Gardner
February 19, 2025

It was only a matter of time before Donald Trump’s newly empowered allies came after journalists. You could sense the discomfort in media quarters two weeks ago as word spread that casino mogul and Trump fundraiser Steve Wynn had petitioned the Supreme Court to review a defamation case he filed against The Associated Press in 2018. Wynn’s ultimate goal is for the justices to reconsider the “actual malice” standard that public figures must meet to prevail in libel suits, which was established by the landmark 1964 ruling New York Times Co. vs. Sullivan. Journalists—and the U.S. media industry—can be forgiven for worrying that SCOTUS will oblige. Might Sullivan be toppled, much like Roe v. Wade?