President Trump has sued The New York Times for $15 billion in yet another legal battle against legacy media, alleging the company defamed him as part of a decades-long campaign of falsehoods.
“The New York Times has been allowed to freely lie, smear, and defame me for far too long, and that stops, NOW!” Mr. Trump wrote on social media.
In the complaint, Mr. Trump takes issue with the fact that The Times endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on its front page during the 2024 election.
The complaint says the American people saw through The Times’ alleged falsehoods that it printed about Mr. Trump.
“The newspaper’s editorial routine is now one of industrial-scale defamation and libel against political opponents. As such, the Times has become a leading, and unapologetic, purveyor of falsehoods against President Trump on the legacy media landscape,” the complaint read.
The lawsuit says that in September 2024, Penguin published a book titled “Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success,” which he says is defamatory. The Times ran articles from the book, according to the court document.
The lawsuit also targets Penguin Random House and four New York Times reporters.
“The Book and Articles are part of a decades-long pattern by the New York Times of intentional and malicious defamation against President Trump. Defendants maliciously published the Book and the Articles knowing that these publications were filled with repugnant distortions and fabrications about President Trump,” the lawsuit read.
He is asking for a jury trial and for a $15 billion award.
In a statement, The Times said the president’s lawsuit “has no merit.”
“It lacks any legitimate legal claims and instead is an attempt to stifle and discourage independent reporting. The New York Times will not be deterred by intimidation tactics. We will continue to pursue the facts without fear or favor,” the statement said.
The president has successfully settled suits with Paramount and CBS as well as ABC for millions of dollars.
Mr. Trump announced his lawsuit against The Times on Truth Social.
“Today, I have the Great Honor of bringing a $15 Billion Dollar Defamation and Libel Lawsuit against The New York Times, one of the worst and most degenerate newspapers in the History of our Country, becoming a virtual ‘mouthpiece’ for the Radical Left Democrat Party. I view it as the single largest illegal Campaign contribution, EVER,” Mr. Trump wrote.
He wrote, “Their Endorsement of Kamala Harris was actually put dead center on the front page of The New York Times, something heretofore UNHEARD OF! The ‘Times’ has engaged in a decades long method of lying about your Favorite President (ME!), my family, business, the America First Movement, MAGA, and our Nation as a whole.
“I am PROUD to hold this once respected “rag” responsible, as we are doing with the Fake News Networks such as our successful litigation against George Slopadopoulos/ABC/Disney, and 60 Minutes/CBS/Paramount, who knew that they were falsely ‘smearing’ me through a highly sophisticated system of document and visual alteration, which was, in effect, a malicious form of defamation, and thus, settled for record amounts,” the president wrote. “They practiced this longterm INTENT and pattern of abuse, which is both unacceptable and illegal. The New York Times has been allowed to freely lie, smear, and defame me for far too long, and that stops, NOW!”
The case is Trump v. New York Times, et. al. It was filed in the Middle District of Florida.
Mr. Trump also has a lawsuit pending against The Wall Street Journal over an article suggesting Mr. Trump wrote a birthday note to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday that included a drawing of a naked woman.
He’s denied the birthday note.
