I can&#x27;t imagine Obama suing somebody insignificant for defamation but Trump has a track record of doing just that...<p>I think you&#x27;re right that politicians in the West generally refrain from doing so not least because they&#x27;re concerned about looking ridiculous or overbearing. Legally they can though, and more minor politicians often do if the claim is sufficiently incendiary and well publicised.<p>Here&#x27;s a British member of the House of Lords suing a politician&#x27;s wife simply for <i>implying</i> something over Twitter
<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.independent.co.uk&#x2F;news&#x2F;uk&#x2F;crime&#x2F;lord-mcalpine-libel-row-with-sally-bercow-settled-in-high-court-8896773.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.independent.co.uk&#x2F;news&#x2F;uk&#x2F;crime&#x2F;lord-mcalpine-lib...</a>
And the UK of course also has a fine tradition of MPs losing their libel lawsuits and sometimes even ending up in jail for perjury as a result of the original claims turning out to be largely true.