By Luc Cohen and Jack Queen

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Donald Trump on Thursday asked for a new trial in the civil case brought by E. Jean Carroll, in which a Manhattan jury last month found the former U.S. president liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer and awarded her $5 million in damages.

In a filing in Manhattan federal court, Trump’s lawyers said the jury’s $2 million award for the sexual abuse portion of the verdict was “excessive” because the jury had found that Carroll was not raped, and that the conduct Carroll alleged did not cause any diagnosed mental injury.

They also said the $2.7 million award for the defamation claim was “based upon pure speculation.”

A lawyer for Carroll had no immediate comment. Trump denies the allegations and has appealed the verdict.

Carroll’s lawsuit, filed in 2022, said Trump raped her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York in the mid-1990s, and defamed her by denying it happened. Trump has called Carroll’s claims a “hoax.”

Two of Carroll’s friends testified at trial that she told them about the rape after it occurred.

The trial also featured testimony from two women who alleged Trump assaulted them many years ago under similar circumstances, as well as taped deposition testimony by Trump in which he denies ever meeting Carroll.

Trump’s lawyers told jurors that Carroll’s narrative was implausible and said she had not provided evidence to back up her damages claims.

Carroll, a former Elle magazine advice columnist, filed a separate lawsuit in November 2019 for defamation only. That case has been bogged down in appeals over whether Trump was immune from being sued because he had been president when he spoke.

She filed her second lawsuit for both defamation and battery in 2022 after New York passed a law giving sexual assault victims a new window to sue even if the statute of limitations had passed.

Carroll in May sought to amend the first lawsuit with a claim for $10 million in additional damages over Trump’s comments on CNN after the verdict, where he called the case a “complete con job.”

Trump’s lawyers said in the filing on Thursday that Carroll is seeking “double recovery” with the second lawsuit.

They also argued that the jury’s awards were out of proportion to similar cases, asking U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan to reduce them if he rejects the bid for a new trial.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

By John Kruzel and Andrew Chung

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday gave a boost to Jack Daniel’s in its trademark dispute with a dog accessory company that sold a parody chew toy resembling the distiller’s widely recognized black-label whiskey bottle.

The 9-0 decision authored by liberal Justice Elena Kagan threw out a lower court’s ruling that the pun-laden “Bad Spaniels” vinyl chew toy sold by VIP Products LLC is an “expressive work” protected by the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc is owned by Louisville, Kentucky-based Brown-Forman Corp.

The dispute pitted the whiskey brand’s trademark rights against legal protections for creative expression – in this case a send-up by Phoenix-based VIP Products of Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 Tennessee whiskey bottle featuring comical dog poop-themed changes like a label reading “the Old No. 2, on your Tennessee Carpet.”

“This case is about dog toys and whiskey, two items seldom appearing in the same sentence,” Kagan wrote in the ruling, emphasizing that, while throwing out the lower court’s decision, the decision was narrow.

Jack Daniel’s spokesperson Svend Jansen said the company was pleased with the decision.

“Jack Daniel’s is a brand recognized for quality and craftsmanship, and when friends around the world see the label, they know it stands for something they can count on. We will continue to support efforts to protect the goodwill and strength of this iconic trademark,” Jansen said.

Lower courts had ruled in favor of VIP Products after applying what is called the Rogers test, which has allowed artists to lawfully use another’s trademark when doing so has artistic relevance to their work and would not explicitly mislead consumers about its source.

The test was crafted in a 1989 decision by the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a case brought by Hollywood legend Ginger Rogers. The actress unsuccessfully sued to block the 1986 film “Ginger and Fred” from director Federico Fellini that referred to her famed dance partnership with actor Fred Astaire.

Kagan wrote that the 9th Circuit erred in applying the Rogers test in this case, concluding that “it is not appropriate when the accused infringer has used a trademark to designate the source of its own goods – in other words, has used a trademark as a trademark. That kind of use falls within the heartland of trademark law, and does not receive special First Amendment protection.”

Kagan added that “few cases would even get to the likelihood-of-confusion inquiry if all expressive content triggered the Rogers filter.”

A lawyer for President Joe Biden’s administration had urged the justices to discard the Rogers test in favor of the more-rigorous multi-factor test normally used in trademark-infringement cases, which looks squarely at whether the acts would likely cause marketplace confusion.

The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2020 ruled in favor of VIP Products on two grounds. The 9th Circuit found the Bad Spaniels toy was an “expressive work” shielded by the First Amendment.

The 9th Circuit also ruled that VIP Product’s use of the Jack Daniel’s trademark was noncommercial because it was used not only to sell dog toys but also “to convey a humorous message,” and thus had not tarnished the distiller’s distinctive mark. 

(Reporting by John Kruzel in Washington; Additional reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)

By Tyler Clifford

NEW YORK (Reuters) -A smoky yellow haze generated by hundreds of Canadian wildfires hovered over a large swath of the United States on Thursday, causing breathing problems and flight disruptions and threatening to linger until the weekend and beyond.

The U.S. National Weather Service extended air quality alerts for another day for the East Coast from New England to South Carolina, as well as parts of the Midwest, including Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.

Health officials in more than a dozen states have warned millions of residents that spending time outdoors could cause respiratory issues due to the high levels of fine particulates in the atmosphere.

As the smoke pushed southward, conditions were expected to improve in the Northeast on Thursday while worsening for residents in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Washington, D.C. In New York, a faint smell of burning wood lingered, even as patches of blue opened up in the morning skies.

The haze and low visibility prompted aviation officials to halt incoming flights to major airports in New York and Philadelphia from the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic region and Ohio for a second day. All flights bound for the airport in Newark, New Jersey, a major New York-area airport, were delayed.

In Washington, the National Zoo was closed, while the Nationals baseball team postponed its afternoon home game. A live concert and an open air public movie screening scheduled for Thursday evening in Franklin Park was also canceled.

The White House also postponed its Pride Month event, which had been expected to be the largest such White House celebration for LGBTQ+ people in history. It was rescheduled for Saturday when the air quality was expected to improve.

Across the entire affected region, many schools once again called off outdoor activities, including sports practices and recess. And horse racing was scratched at a track on New York’s Long Island that is set to host the prestigious Belmont Stakes this weekend.

It was the worst case of wildfire smoke blanketing the U.S. Northeast in more than 20 years, according to private forecasting service AccuWeather.

Smoky conditions are likely to persist until Sunday, when a new storm system shifts the direction of prevailing winds and brings a chance of rainfall in parts of the country nearing drought conditions, National Weather Service meteorologist Peter Mullinax said.

“We’re finally going to start to see more relief by the time we hit the early part of next week when we start to see those southerly winds come in and push that smoke more farther north and out into the Atlantic,” Mullinax said.

Canadian cities including Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal have also experienced smoke in recent days, as blazes rage in both the east and west of the country.

MOST POLLUTED CITY

With an “unhealthy” Air Quality Index reading of 178, New York City’s air on Thursday was again more polluted than any major city in the world, topping cities such as Dhaka and Hanoi that are fixtures on the global bad-air list compiled by IQAir, a Swiss technology company.

The U.S. Air Quality Index (AQI) measures five major pollutants, including particulate matter produced by fires. The higher the reading, the more polluted the air. Readings over 100 are classified as “unhealthy” while those exceeding 300 are “hazardous.”

Several readings over 300 were recorded in Washington on Thursday morning, prompting many people to wear n95 masks outside as a thick layer of white smoke veiled the capital. The smog, which reeked of ash, grew denser as the day wore on, erasing the top of the Washington Monument from view.

“This problem is likely to continue or worsen through Friday,” Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a tweet. “We urge residents and visitors to follow precautions.”

Large areas of Michigan are also under red flag warnings due to dangerous fire weather conditions in both of the state’s peninsulas, according to the weather agency.

Forest fires continued to burn across Canada on Thursday, sending more smoke across the U.S. border.

The country is enduring its worst-ever start to wildfire season. Thousands of Canadians have been forced from their homes and about 3.8 million hectares (9.4 million acres) have already burned, roughly 15 times the 10-year average, according to federal Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair.

(Reporting by Tyler CliffordAdditional reporting by Kanishka Singh, Gabriella Borter, Trevor Hunnicutt and Brad BrooksWriting by Joseph AxEditing by Jonathan Oatis and Frances Kerry)

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Donald Trump on Thursday asked for a new trial in the civil case brought by E. Jean Carroll, in which a Manhattan jury last month found the former U.S. president liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer and awarded her $5 million in damages.

In a filing in Manhattan federal court, Trump’s lawyers said the jury’s $2 million award for the sexual abuse portion of the verdict was “excessive” because the jury had found that Carroll was not raped, and that the conduct Carroll alleged did not cause any diagnosed mental injury.

They also said the $2.7 million award for the defamation claim was “based upon pure speculation.”

A lawyer for Carroll had no immediate comment.

Carroll’s lawsuit, filed in 2022, said Trump raped her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York in the mid-1990s, and defamed her by denying it happened. Trump has called Carroll’s claims a “hoax.”

(Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jonathan Stempel in New York)

By Nandita Bose

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden’s White House Pride Month celebration, expected to be the largest in history, will be postponed from Thursday evening until Saturday, officials said, as Washington is enveloped in a cloud of smoke from Canadian wildfires.

“Today’s Pride event on the White House South Lawn will be postponed until Saturday based on the projected air quality in the region,” the White House said in a statement.

The party, which is expected to include thousands of guests on the White House’s South Lawn, is a deliberate contrast to a cascade of Republican legislation and other attacks targeting LGBTQ+ people, Biden officials have said.

Forest fires continued to burn across Canada on Thursday as the country endured its worst-ever start to wildfire season, sending a smoky haze billowing across U.S. cities and grounding flights.

Biden, a Democrat, planned an evening celebration of LGBTQ+ families featuring singer Betty Who and Baltimore DJ Queen HD.

He was also expected to announce new measures Thursday to help schools and LGBTQ kids navigate book bans, community centers fight threats, and transgender youth access better care, domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden said.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether those announcements would be postponed as well.

“This year we’re seeing a disturbing surge in violent threats against LGBTQ community organizations,” Tanden told reporters on a conference call Wednesday evening. “In too many parts of our country, LGBTQ Americans are being targeted for who they are, and that, simply put, is discrimination.”

REPUBLICAN BANS

Republican-led states have signed a flurry of bills targeting transgender youth. Some states have banned teachers of younger children from discussing gender or sexuality and conservative lawmakers have proposed or passed laws restricting drag performances.

In April, the White House warned that bills targeting LGBTQ kids and gender-affirming care for youth set a dangerous precedent.

The White House will announce a new coordinator in the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights to train schools on how to navigate book bans, the impact they have on LGBTQ kids and how they violate civil rights laws, Tanden said.

The Department of Homeland Security will announce new training for community groups against active shooters and bomb threats; the Department of Justice will expand work with state and local law enforcement to protect the community; and the Department of Health and Human Services will put out a new advisory for mental health care providers supporting transgender kids.

Florida has been at the forefront of restrictions aimed at the LGBTQ community under Governor Ron DeSantis, who says he is protecting children, and recently entered the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination to challenge Biden.

LGBTQ+ EVOLUTION

Biden’s own views on gay rights have evolved over his decades in public life. A watershed moment was his endorsement of same-sex marriage in 2012 as vice president, which pushed then-President Barack Obama to express his support for gay marriage a few days later.

As president, Biden has overturned a ban on transgender individuals serving in the military, issued a new order to stop conversion therapy and signed the Respect for Marriage Act, which federally recognizes same-sex marriages, into law.

American support for same-sex marriage has doubled since the late 1990s to more than 70%, Gallup polls show, and the percentage of people who identify as LGBTQ has doubled in the past decade to over 7%.

On Tuesday, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest LGBTQ advocacy organization in the United States, declared its first national state of emergency, citing the proliferation of anti-LGBTQ legislation in statehouses across the country.

More than 70 bills HRC considers anti-LGBTQ were passed in statehouses this legislative session, double last year’s previous record, and over 500 were introduced.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; Additional reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Trevor Hunnicutt, Heather Timmons, Gerry Doyle and Jonathan Oatis)

By Nandita Bose

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden’s White House Pride Month celebration, expected to be the largest in history, will be postponed from Thursday evening until Saturday, officials said, as Washington is enveloped in a cloud of smoke from Canadian wildfires.

“Today’s Pride event on the White House South Lawn will be postponed until Saturday based on the projected air quality in the region,” the White House said in a statement.

The party, which is expected to include thousands of guests on the White House’s South Lawn, is a deliberate contrast to a cascade of Republican legislation and other attacks targeting LGBTQ+ people, Biden officials have said.

Forest fires continued to burn across Canada on Thursday as the country endured its worst-ever start to wildfire season, sending a smoky haze billowing across U.S. cities and grounding flights.

Biden, a Democrat, planned an evening celebration of LGBTQ+ families featuring singer Betty Who and Baltimore DJ Queen HD.

He was also expected to announce new measures Thursday to help schools and LGBTQ kids navigate book bans, community centers fight threats, and transgender youth access better care, domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden said.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether those announcements would be postponed as well.

“This year we’re seeing a disturbing surge in violent threats against LGBTQ community organizations,” Tanden told reporters on a conference call Wednesday evening. “In too many parts of our country, LGBTQ Americans are being targeted for who they are, and that, simply put, is discrimination.”

REPUBLICAN BANS

Republican-led states have signed a flurry of bills targeting transgender youth. Some states have banned teachers of younger children from discussing gender or sexuality and conservative lawmakers have proposed or passed laws restricting drag performances.

In April, the White House warned that bills targeting LGBTQ kids and gender-affirming care for youth set a dangerous precedent.

The White House will announce a new coordinator in the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights to train schools on how to navigate book bans, the impact they have on LGBTQ kids and how they violate civil rights laws, Tanden said.

The Department of Homeland Security will announce new training for community groups against active shooters and bomb threats; the Department of Justice will expand work with state and local law enforcement to protect the community; and the Department of Health and Human Services will put out a new advisory for mental health care providers supporting transgender kids.

Florida has been at the forefront of restrictions aimed at the LGBTQ community under Governor Ron DeSantis, who says he is protecting children, and recently entered the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination to challenge Biden.

LGBTQ+ EVOLUTION

Biden’s own views on gay rights have evolved over his decades in public life. A watershed moment was his endorsement of same-sex marriage in 2012 as vice president, which pushed then-President Barack Obama to express his support for gay marriage a few days later.

As president, Biden has overturned a ban on transgender individuals serving in the military, issued a new order to stop conversion therapy and signed the Respect for Marriage Act, which federally recognizes same-sex marriages, into law.

American support for same-sex marriage has doubled since the late 1990s to more than 70%, Gallup polls show, and the percentage of people who identify as LGBTQ has doubled in the past decade to over 7%.

On Tuesday, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest LGBTQ advocacy organization in the United States, declared its first national state of emergency, citing the proliferation of anti-LGBTQ legislation in statehouses across the country.

More than 70 bills HRC considers anti-LGBTQ were passed in statehouses this legislative session, double last year’s previous record, and over 500 were introduced.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; Additional reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Trevor Hunnicutt, Heather Timmons, Gerry Doyle and Jonathan Oatis)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday called on Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to double the number of U.S. personnel available to help fight wildfires raging in Canada and to mitigate the risk to American air quality.

The chamber’s top Democrat said he would send a letter to Vilsack laying out his requests, while calling the wildfires that have led to unhealthy air quality in major U.S. cities the latest example of the global climate crisis.

“The climate crisis is real and it is here to stay. We must take action against the climate crisis, both short-term and long-term,” Schumer said in a speech on the Senate floor.

“I am calling on Secretary Tom Vilsack to double the number of Forest Service personnel deployed to fight these fires,” he added. “I am calling on the secretary of Agriculture to double the number of personnel to mitigate the risk in the air for millions of Americans.”

(Reporting by David Morgan, Katharine Jackson and Rami Ayyub; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

By Nandita Bose

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden will host the largest White House Pride Month celebration in history on Thursday, in a deliberate contrast to a cascade of Republican legislation and other attacks targeting LGBTQ+ people.

Biden, a Democrat, will host thousands of people on the White House’s South Lawn for an evening celebration of LGBTQ+ families that will feature singer Betty Who and Baltimore DJ Queen HD.

Biden will also announce new measures to help schools and LGBTQ kids navigate book bans, community centers fight threats and transgender youth access better care, domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden said.

“This year we’re seeing a disturbing surge in violent threats against LGBTQ community organizations,” Tanden told reporters on a conference call. “In too many parts of our country, LGBTQ Americans are being targeted for who they are, and that, simply put, is discrimination.”

Republican-led states have signed a flurry of bills targeting transgender youth; some states have banned teachers of younger children from discussing gender or sexuality and conservative lawmakers have proposed laws restricting drag performances.

In April, the White House warned bills targeting LGBTQ kids and gender-affirming care for youth set a dangerous precedent.

Biden’s own views on gay rights have evolved over his decades in public life. A watershed moment was his endorsement of the same-sex marriage in 2012 as vice president, a move that pushed former President Barack Obama to express his support for gay marriage a few days later.

As President he overturned a ban on transgender individuals serving in the military, issued a new order to stop conversion therapy and signed the Respect for Marriage Act, which federally recognizes same-sex marriages, into law.

American support for same-sex marriage has doubled since the late 1990s to more than 70%, Gallup polls show, and the percentage of people who identify as LGBTQ has doubled in the past decade to over 7%.

The White House will announce on Thursday a new coordinator in the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights to train schools on how to navigate book bans, the impact they have on LGBTQ kids and how they violate civil rights laws, Tanden said.

The Department of Homeland Security will announce new training for community groups against active shooters and bomb threats; the Department of Justice will expand work with state and local law enforcement to protect the community and the Department of Health & Human Services will put a new advisory for mental health care providers supporting transgender kids.

On Tuesday, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest LGBTQ advocacy organization in the United States, declared its first national state of emergency, citing the proliferation of anti-LGBTQ legislation in statehouses across the country.

More than 70 bills HRC considers anti-LGBTQ were passed in statehouses this legislative session, double last year’s previous record and over 500 introduced.

Florida has led restrictions of the LGBTQ community under governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, who recently entered the battle for the 2024 presidential election, challenging Biden.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington, Additional reporting by Jeff Mason. Editing by Trevor Hunnicutt, Heather Timmons and Gerry Doyle)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Donald Trump on Thursday asked for a new trial in the civil case brought by E. Jean Carroll, in which a Manhattan jury last month found the former U.S. president liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer and awarded her $5 million in damages.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Donald Trump on Thursday asked for a new trial in the civil case brought by E. Jean Carroll, in which a Manhattan jury last month found the former U.S. president liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer and awarded her $5 million in damages.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York)