Donald Trump, co-owner of the Miss Universe Organization, poses with Miss Connecticut Erin Brady at a news conference after she was crowned Miss USA 2013 at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada in a June 16, 2013 file photo. 
 
 NEW YORK Donald Trump, the billionaire real estate developer, is planning to sue U.S. Spanish-language TV network Univision for hundreds of millions of dollars for dropping coverage of the Miss USA pageant, which he partly owns, his lawyer said on Thursday. 
 
 Michael Cohen, the executive vice president and special counsel to Trump, said he was finalizing a retainer agreement with outside counsel. 
 
 "We intend to pursue all legal rights and remedies available to Mr. Trump pursuant to the terms of the license agreement as well as a defamation case against Univision," he said. "The lawsuit is going to be for hundreds of millions of dollars." 
 
 Univision said on Thursday that it would not air the Miss USA pageant on July 12 because of what it called insulting remarks by Trump about Mexican immigrants. 
 
 During his speech last week announcing his candidacy for the U.S. Republican presidential nomination, Trump accused Mexico of sending rapists and criminals to the United States. 
 
 "They're sending people that have lots of problems and they're bringing their problems," he said. "They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, and some I assume are good people, but I speak to border guards and they tell us what we are getting." 
 
 Univision [UVN.UL] said it would also sever ties with the Miss Universe Organization, a joint venture between Trump and Comcast-owned NBCUniversal. 
 
 In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Trump said he had a signed contract with Univision. 
 
 "Of course I have a signed contract: five years, they have to pay me almost $15 million," he said. "They can't do this." 
 
 U.S. TV network NBC has the rights to broadcast the English-language version of the Miss USA pageant. Univision had planned to simulcast the event in Spanish for the first time. 
 
 In addition to nixing the pageant, Univision said it would not work with any projects tied to the Trump organization. 
 
 On Thursday, an unrepentant Trump said the Mexican government had pressured Univision to sever ties with him because he had exposed problems on the southern U.S. border and in trade deals with the United States. 
 
 "Mexican leadership has been doing serious damage to the United States by out-negotiating our representatives and political leaders," Trump said in a statement. 
 
 Univision said its local news division would continue to cover all candidates, including Trump, who are vying for the U.S. presidency. 
 
 Univision was taken private by a group of buyout firms, including Madison Dearborn Partners, Saban Capital, Providence Equity Partners, TPG Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners, for $12.3 billion in 2007. 
 
 (Reporting by Patricia Reaney; Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Marguerita Choy) 

 Trump, Univision at war over 'Miss Universe' 
 
 Donald Trump and Univision Communications became embroiled in a contractual dispute on Thursday after the New York-based media company announced that it would end its business relationship with the Miss Universe Organization, based on what it described as Trump's "insulting remarks about Mexican immigrants." 
 
 In an interview with the On Media blog, Trump, a co-owner of the Miss Universe Organization, accused Univision of defaulting on an "iron-clad" five-year, $13.5 million contract that it had no right to terminate. "They have no termination rights whatsoever," Trump said. "They've defaulted on their contract because of pressure put on them by Mexico." 
 
 Trump said Univision has already paid for the rights to broadcast the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants in Mexico and South America, and reiterated that there were no clauses and "no outs" allowing for the breakage of the contract. 
 
 Trump, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, said in a speech earlier this month that he would build a wall to stop Mexico from dumping "rapists" and criminals on U.S. soil. On Wednesday, Trump issued a statement accusing the media of trying "to distort my comments regarding Mexico and its great people," adding that he has "many successful business relationships with Mexican companies and employ, and am close friends with, many Mexican people," and that he has "tremendous respect for the leaders of Mexico." 
 
 In Thursday's statement, Univision said the company saw the "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. We will not be airing the Miss USA pageant on July 12th or working on any other projects tied to the Trump Organization." 
 
 "Univision News and the local news division will continue to provide comprehensive coverage of all candidates, including Mr. Trump, to ensure our audience continues to have access to all points of view," the company said. 
 
 As Trump sees it, Univision is capitulating to pressure "put on them by various sources in Mexico." 
 
 "The Mexican government is putting pressure on Univision to get me to stop exposing the weaknesses the U.S. has at the southern border," he said during the interview, citing his claims that U.S. leaders were "incompetent" on trade with Mexico, allowing the country to take advantage of the U.S., and that the southern border "is a sieve" that "illegals are pouring through." 
 
 "The government of Mexico and the lobbyists and the special interests have put tremendous pressure on Univision, a company that is very subservient to Mexico, to get Trump to stop exposing the terrible situation at the border and the terrible trade deals that are being made by the United States to the benefit of Mexico," he said. "I will not be party to that, because my love of the country is too great to allow this to happen." 
 
 Trump said any "normal politician" would have "immediately folded and said, 'Oh, gee, we're sorry' and apologized and let this rip-off continue," and singled out Jeb Bush: "Anyone else would be subservient to that. Bush would say, 'I'm sorry, keep ripping us off.'" 
 
 Throughout the interview, Trump claimed he was "statistically tied in first place" with Bush, whom he described as "very stiff," based on two recent polls: a Fox News poll that had Bush in first place with 15 percent and Trump in second place with 11 percent, and a Suffolk University poll had Trump second behind Bush in New Hampshire. 
 
 The Miss Universe Organization is co-owned by Trump and NBCUniversal, the latter of which has yet to comment on the matter.
– The Donald Trump-Univision spat looks like it could outlast the Donald Trump 2016 campaign. Trump's lawyer says his client plans to sue the network for "hundreds of millions" over its decision to drop the Miss USA pageant, reports Reuters. "We intend to pursue all legal rights and remedies available to Mr. Trump pursuant to the terms of the license agreement, as well as a defamation case against Univision," says the lawyer. Trump part-owns the pageant, and Univision says it decided to cut its ties with him and his organization after he claimed Mexico was sending criminals and rapists to the US. Trump, who says Univision has no right to terminate the Miss USA contract, tells Politico that he believes the network is kowtowing to the Mexican government. "The government of Mexico and the lobbyists and the special interests have put tremendous pressure on Univision, a company that is very subservient to Mexico, to get Trump to stop exposing the terrible situation at the border and the terrible trade deals that are being made by the United States to the benefit of Mexico," he says, referring to himself in the third person. Any "normal politician," especially Jeb Bush, would have folded under the pressure by now, Trump says. (Trump also has a beef with a famous Canadian.)