Nicholas Sandmann, 16, is seeking the sum from the Washington Post based on its initial coverage of an event that saw a group of teenagers in a stand-off with Native American activist Nathan Phillips.

The paper accused the group of “‘accost[ing]’ Phillips by ‘suddenly swarm[ing]’ him in a ‘threaten[ing]’ and ‘physically intimidat[ing]’ manner.”

However, later media reports suggested that Sandmann and the students from Covington Catholic High School had not initiated the conflict.

Sandmann’s desired sum would be the biggest defamation award in US history.

His lawyers said the Post targeted Sandmann “using its vast financial resources … to smear a young boy who was in its view an acceptable casualty in their war against the President.”

They added: “The Post wanted to lead the charge against this child because he was a pawn in its political war against its political adversary – a war so disconnected and beyond the comprehension of Nicholas that it might as well have been science fiction.”