Donald Trump Promises 'Major Lawsuit' Against Univision for Dropping Miss USA: 'They Owe Us a Lot of Money'

The presidential hopeful will also be suing for defamation, he told Deadline

Photo: Getty

When Donald Trump announced his intent to run for president earlier this month, he accused Mexican immigrants coming to the U.S. of “bringing drugs” and “bringing crime.” He also labeled them “rapists,” moments after proclaiming himself to be a “nice guy.”

Unsurprisingly, his comments were not taken well by the Latino community. On Thursday, Univision – the largest Spanish-language broadcaster in America – announced that it would cancel its telecast of the Miss USA pageant, set to air July 12. Along with Comcast’s NBCUniversal division, Trump co-owns the Miss Universe Organization.

In the statement announcing that it would be parting ways with the Miss Universe Organization, Univision called Trump’s remarks “insulting” and lauded “the work ethic, love for family, strong religious values and the important role Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans have had and will continue to have in building the future of our country.”

Now Trump, 69, has announced that he intends to slap Univision with a “major lawsuit,” he told Deadline. He accused the network of “defamation” and insists that “they owe us a lot of money. They have a contract that is ironclad, no termination rights.”

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Following Univision’s decision, NBC attempted to distance itself from Trump’s inflammatory comments. “Donald Trump’s opinions do not represent those of NBC,” reads a statement released to PEOPLE, “and we do not agree with his positions on a number of issues, including his recent comments on immigration.”

Meanwhile, Trump insists, “I love the people of Mexico,” he told the New York Post, “but my loyalty is to the United States. Running for president is far more important to me, frankly, than running the Miss Universe pageant.”