There’s a certain irony in the fact that President Donald Trump announced his silly $15 billion defamation suit against The New York Times scant days after a federal appellate court dismissed a similar claim against Fox News. That lawsuit was filed by Nina Jankowicz, the former head of the Biden administration’s short-lived Disinformation Governance Board.

The lawsuits suffer from a common defect: They seek to turn hyperbolic criticism of a government official into grounds for civil damages. The court was right in tossing Jankowicz’s suit; Trump’s should meet a similar fate — and quickly. It should be exceptionally difficult for those who serve in government to sue their critics; for presidents, it should be hardest of all.

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