U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has sued the Des Moines Register over a poll the newspaper outlet ran that showed him trailing Vice-President Kamala Harris just before the November presidential election.

This is the latest of Mr Trump’s retribution against mainstream media following a $16 million settlement with ABC News last week after the businessman filed a defamation lawsuit against the network.

According to the New York Times, Mr Trump accused Des Moines Register and Gannett, the newspaper’s parent company, and its owner pollster Ann Selzer, of “brazen election interference” in the Polk County, Iowa lawsuit.

“We have to straighten out the press,” Mr Trump said during a news conference in Florida on Monday. “I have to do it.”

The lawsuit alleges that Ms Selzer and her company violated the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act, which prohibits deceptive practices in sales or advertising.

Meanwhile, the newspaper, through its spokesperson Lark-Marie Anton, said, “This lawsuit is without merit.”

Ms Anton added, “We have acknowledged that the Selzer/Des Moines Register pre-election poll did not reflect the ultimate margin of President Trump’s Election Day victory in Iowa by releasing the poll’s full demographics, cross-tabs, weighted and unweighted data, as well as a technical explanation from pollster Ann Selzer.

“We stand by our reporting on the matter and will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights.”