Withdraws frivolous $5 million lawsuit against Bill Maher over orangutan joke

Trump withdrew his lawsuit against comedian Bill Maher seeking $5 million that Maher had jokingly offered to charity if Trump could prove he wasn't "the spawn of his mother having sex with an orangutan." Maher made the joke on The Tonight Show in January 2013, mocking Trump's earlier $5 million birther offer to Obama. Trump had actually filed a lawsuit in February claiming Maher's joke constituted a binding contract, and even submitted his birth certificate as "proof." Legal experts called the suit frivolous and noted Trump's pattern of using litigation to bully critics. Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen said they planned to refile, though they never did. The incident highlighted Trump's extreme thin-skinnedness and willingness to weaponize the legal system against comedians and critics.