Former US President Donald Trump has sued the American channel CNN for defamation and requested compensation of $475 million for "punitive damages".

In the lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, South Florida, Trump alleges that the cable channel uses "its enormous influence" to defame him in order to "defeat him politically.

"The document adds that "CNN's deterrent campaign in the form of defamation and slander against the plaintiff has only intensified in recent months, as CNN fears" that he will run for president in 2024.

The letter appends a series of examples in which, supposedly, the television network sought to "cause real damage", such as in a broadcast of the program "Reliable Sources" (reliable sources) in which the presenter, Brian Stelter, spoke to a psychiatrist and said that "Trump is as destructive a person in the century as Hitler, Stalin and Mao were in the last The lawsuit is signed by attorneys Lindsey Halligan and James M. Trusty. This is not the first dispute between Trump and the CNN network, a medium that has been criticized by the former president and his followers.

First Amendment 
In 2018, the chain sued the former president since the White House "improperly" revoked and "in violation of the First Amendment right to press freedom" the credentials of journalist Jim Acosta after a tense exchange with the president.

The CNN network later considered its litigation with Trump settled after the White House permanently returned the journalist's accreditation.

Also, in 2020, the Trump election campaign sued CNN for "defamation", as it did with The Washington Post and The New York Times.