Prosecutor drops BAD NEWS for Trump amid legal threat against Trevor Noah

You're watching the legal breakdown, Glenn. We have new news coming out of. the Grammys where Donald Trump has. threatened to sue Trevor Noah, who was. the host of the Grammys. So, just to. give a lay of the land here, here is the. clip of the joke that Trevor Noah told. Song of the year. Congratulations, Billy. Isish. Wow, 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, oh, I told you it's my last.

year. What are you going to do about it? >> All right. So, that was followed by a. post by Donald Trump, some late night. screed that I think everybody expected. I'm going to put that on the screen. He. said, "The Grammys awards are the worst. Virtually unwatchable. CBS is lucky not. to have this garbage littered their. airwaves any longer. The host, Trevor. Noah, whoever he may be, is almost as. bad as Jimmy Kimmel at the low ratings. Academy Awards. Noah said incorrectly. about me that Donald Trump and Bill. Clinton spent time on Epstein Island. wrong. I can't speak for Bill, but I.

have never been to the Epstein Islands, nor anywhere close. And until tonight's. false and defamatory statement, have. never been accused being there, not even. by the fake news media. Noah, a total. loser, better get his facts straight and. get them straight fast. It looks like. I'll be sending my lawyers to sue this. poor, pathetic, talentless, dope of an. MC and suing him for plenty of money. Ask little George Slapadopoulos and. others how that worked out. Also, ask. CBS, get ready, Noah, I'm going to have. some fun with you. President DJT. So. clearly we have the threat of a. defamation lawsuit by somebody who is.

completely ligious and perfectly happy. to sue anybody and everybody. Um so I. want to ask first and foremost about the. merit of this potential lawsuit that. Trump is going to wage against Trevor. Noah. >> You know Brian, I know Donald Trump. wants to be king of America, but you. know he's nothing more than king of the. petty grievances. Not only was he the. butt of Trevor Noah jokes, but he was. the butt of the joke throughout the. evening. I think with good reason. But, okay, let's break it down. What.

constitutes defamation? There are five. elements. Elements are just things you. have to prove if you want to be. successful in a defamation suit that you. bring in court. We should remember that. the Supreme Court has recognized that. comedy is a protected form of speech. It's artistic expression. And so let's. start with that basic proposition. But. if you want to successfully sue somebody. for defamation, you need to prove one, a. false statement was made. Two, it was.

made about you. You were named. Three, it was published. Now, that could. certainly include being spoken at the. Grammys and hitting the public airwaves. for the that the speaker had to have. malicious intent, actual malice, which. frankly, as an old career prosecutor and. homicide guy, you know, that's what we. need when we're trying to prove somebody. committed murder, actual malice, bad.

intent to to to kill somebody, to. inflict serious injury to somebody. You. need actual malice. And then five, you. need to prove damages. What does that. mean? Donald Trump would need to prove. that there was harm to his reputation or. that he suffered financial loss as a. result of Trevor Noah's joke. So again, you played the joke and I hate to go all. lawyerly here, Brian, but that's kind of. my job. And so I want to speak the exact.

words that Trevor Noah spoke when he was. making a joke about Donald Trump. He. said song of the year. That is a Grammy. that every artist wants almost as much. as Trump wants Greenland, which makes. sense because Epstein's island is gone. He needs a new one to hang out with Bill. Clinton. So, first of all, you actually. have to draw an inference from the words.

that Trevor Noah spoke. He didn't say. Donald Trump spent time on the Epstein. island with Bill Clinton. He. lightheartedly said, well, you know, if. he wants to find a new um island to pal. around with Bill Clinton on. So, literally, you would have to draw an. inference, and people can draw any. number of inferences from a joke that is. told. But um you know I don't think this. will be a winning defamation suit in the. event it is brought and we can go.

through which elements I think you know. the evidence would be deficient on. But. you know just the fact that a president. is threatening in really the most. obscene and pathetic terms in his posts. on social media that he's so agrieved by. a joke that was told about him that you. know he's going to go after the. comedian. You know, the whole thing kind. of tells you everything you need to know. about Donald Trump and just how thin his. skin is. >> Glenn, since this lawsuit would happen.

in Trump's personal capacity, would. there be some way for Trevor Noah to. counters sue and maybe try to, you know, uh, impose some punishment for a. frivolous lawsuit being waged? In. theory, if you believe you are being. sued in bad faith without any evidence. to support the legal claim that's filed. against you, yes, you could file a. counter suit. Remember, Donald Trump has. been found to have brought frivolous bad. faith lawsuits before. There was one he. brought against Hillary Clinton. And at. the end of the day, not only was it.

dismissed, but the judge ordered that I. think some combination of Donald Trump. and his then lawyer Elena Haba pay a. million dollars for bringing the suit in. the first place. So, you know, yes, in. theory, Trevor Noah could potentially. counter sue or ultimately seek attorneys. fees that he might be out of pocket in. defending against what might be a. frivolous suit. But, you know, I think. the the first question is, you know, is. this just Donald Trump bloiating on. social media at 2 in the morning or does.

he really intend to bring this lawsuit. against Trevor Noah? I I suspect, although we don't know, you never want. to look inside Donald Trump's head to. see what is in there. Um, I suspect this. may be more threat just to intimidate. the the broadest possible swath of. people, including entertainers and. comedians that he can possibly. intimidate. Well, look, I want to note. for people watching right now that if. Trump does move ahead with some lawsuit. here, we will of course cover it uh.

every step of the way. So, if you're not. yet subscribed to both of our channels, please go ahead and subscribe. I'm going. to put the links in the post description. of this video. 100% free, but a great. way to support our work. Glenn, you had. mentioned that Trump had engaged in. previous frivolous lawsuits. Does that. offer some atmospheric precedent for. judges to be able to look at if Trevor. Noah does decide to counter sue and say, "Oh, we we've seen that this this uh you. know, this this plaintiff here um has a. proclivity to engage in these frivolous.

lawsuits. That makes it a little bit. more likely that when Trevor Noah. counters sues that I'll be open to to. the idea that he does engage in these. frivolous suits. >> Technically speaking, it's not. precedent. What happens in one lawsuit. before one judge in one federal. jurisdiction, that one was down in. Florida, I believe, doesn't serve as any. kind of actual precedent. So the the. judge who caught the Trevor Noah. defamation suit, if one was filed, wouldn't look to that judge's decision.

and say, "I'm going to apply it here.". However, it is what you and I, Brian, have often talked about, atmospheric. precedent. And what I would bet is that. Trevor Noah's lawyers would include in. their reply to any defamation lawsuit. that was filed by Trump against him. Here he goes again, judge. Let's see. what he's done in other lawsuits that. have resulted in he and his lawyer being. fined by the court. You can bet you. would see that kind of information in.

Trevor Noah's reply. That doesn't mean. the judge would necessarily have to give. it any weight and he certainly wouldn't. have to abide by decisions in earlier. unrelated lawsuits. Glenn, would the lawsuit be waged. against Trevor Noah in his personal. capacity or against CBS because. technically it was their show and I. would presume that they shoulder some. responsibility for what takes place on. their broadcast? >> Okay, full disclosure, I was a criminal. prosecutor my whole life. I never sued.

anybody nor was I ever sued for. defamation or anything else. However, I. do know that when petitioners are. bringing a defamation suit, they will. sort of paint with a broad brush and try. to include anybody in the suit who they. think might bear any responsibility or. might have deep pockets. And, you know, they may very well include Trevor Noah. and CBS. So, yes, if Donald Trump is. going to bring this suit, ill- advised. though it may be, uh, I couldn't imagine. he would leave CBS off. Well, the the.

interesting thing about that is whereas. if this lawsuit was waged just against. Trevor Noah specifically, I'm sure. Trevor Noah would would be perfectly. content to fight it, and frankly, he. would he would be virtually assured to. win. But when you have uh a media outlet. like CBS that's included, Trump has. already seen that they're weak, that he. can own them. They've already paid him. money. They've already shown that they. can be, you know, bent over the barrel. And so I I I'm curious whether you think. that there's some concern that that.

Trump is looking for any excuse to. extract more money out of a network. that's already shown that they're. perfectly content to to get owned by him. every single time. >> Will Trump ever stop trying to extract. money from the victims of his bullying. from whom he has successfully extracted. money before. That's not the way a bully. works. Once you bend the knee and give. the bully your lunch money once, as CBS. did previously, you know, that bully's.

coming back for more. So, I assume he. would include CBS in the suit. CBS might. want to opt out, go ahead and pay some. kind of a settlement just to get itself. out of the suit and then Trevor Noah. would be, you know, the last man left. standing potentially in the suit and. hopefully he would fight it because we. can talk about where I think the weak. spots are in the proof that this is. actionable definition. So, first of all, false statement, not a given because you. need the inference, right? Well, let me.

back up even before that. How about. first amendment protected speech, artistic expression, which has been. applied to comedy and satire. So this. was a joke, folks. And I think that. actually would carry some weight with. the judge when the judge has to decide. if this is a legitimate defamation suit. or not. Then false statement. You need. to draw the inference. Trevor Noah. didn't say, interestingly, in Donald. Trump's post, I believe he said Trevor. Noah said that Bill Clinton and I were.

on Epstein's Island. No, he didn't. He. said, "You know what? I guess he's going. to need another island to pal around. with Bill Clinton on." That is. different. You know, it may not be. wildly different, and the inference may. be obvious to some, but that detracts. from the falsity of the statement, particularly in the context of a joke. You're kind of asking people to fill in. part of the punchline for you because. that part went unspoken. Okay. actual.

malice against a public official. It's a. very high burden to satisfy when you are. alleged to have defamed, you know, the. probably most prominent person in the. world at this point. For worse or worse, I can't say for better or worse, Donald. Trump. Right? So, he's going to have to. satisfy the actual malice burden. But. then, Brian, let's get down to damages. Let's get down to brass tax and dollars. and cents. First of all, can Donald.

Trump's reputation really be harmed? Is. it capable of being harmed? As bad as. his reputation is, as evidenced by the. most recent document dump from the. Department of Justice on the Epstein. files. I mean, there is some horrific. stuff which, you know, seems to be. pulled down as quickly as it's put up by. the Department of Justice. You have to. wonder what's behind it being pulled. down. I wonder if somebody's. complaining. Um, and financial loss. How.

is Donald Trump going to prove financial. loss? This is the same president who's. suing his own government for what, $230. million because his crimes were. investigated and he was criminally. indicted. Um, >> that's a that's a drop in the bucket. compared to the 10 billion that he's. suing the IRS for. >> 10 billion because I believe an IRS. contractor was alleged to have, you. know, revealed some of his tax. information. You know, he's ba I mean, why not just back the truck up to Fort. Knox, the the big Trump truck, and.

unload all the gold bars so he can put. them in Trump Tower? I mean, can he. really, as a result of this one joke. prove he's suffered a financial loss or. reputational harm? You know, you've got. to be kidding me, >> right? I I think that that that's such a. perfect point. And in fact, I wonder if. the attorneys can say, "Let's just take. a look at how Trump's net worth has. increased from the day of the supposed. defamation, February 1st, 2026, to. whenever this thing could presumably go. to trial, you know, 3 6 months down the.

line, because something tells me that. Trump is not going to be uh become. poorer in that time.". >> Yeah. And and two things that I think. I'd love to finish up on, Brian. Let's. assume he brings suit. What happens? Little thing called discovery. What is. discovery? That means that Trevor Noah's. lawyer would get to propound. interrogatories because lawyers need to. make everything sound fancier than it it. really is. Ask written questions that. Trump would have to answer under oath.

He'd have to swear to the accuracy of. his written answers. But then even worse. for Trump, he would have to sit for a. sworn deposition. Right? Question and. answer under oath. We've all seen how. poorly he has performed. Just think of. the Eugene Carol deposition. We see how. poorly he performs when he is questioned. by a lawyer. So, you really want to. expose yourself in that way to. interrogatories and depositions as part. of the discovery process? I don't think.

there's any way he would do that. And. then let's wrap up with this. What's. Donald Trump's track record when it. comes to going after comedians? Well, he. desperately wanted Jimmy Kimmel to be. off the air permanently. And yet, what. did he succeed in doing? Two things. He. only kept Jimmy Kimmel off the air for. one week. And then the minute Jimmy. Kimmel was back on set and broadcasting, his ratings went through the roof, and. he's probably now more popular than. ever. So, that leads me to conclude that.

Donald Trump is really not very good at. this dictator thing. Perfectly put. We'll leave it there. And of course, Glenn and I will continue to to follow. all of this stuff as it continues to. break and if we see any actual lawsuit. filed against Trevor Noah. So for those. who are watching, if you'd like to. follow along, please make sure to. subscribe to both of our channels. I'm. going to put the links right here on the. screen and also in the post description. of this video. Great way to support our. work and it's 100% free. I'm Brian. Teller Cohen. >> and I'm Glenn Kersner.

>> You're watching the Legal Breakdown.