President Donald Trump has filed a $15 billion defamation and libel lawsuit against The New York Times, its publisher, Penguin Random House and four of its reporters. The suit, filed Monday in a Florida federal court, accused the newspaper of harming his reputation. Trump lists three New York Times articles, accuses the defendants of damaging Trump’s personal and business reputation through a series of articles and a book published last year, as reported by Reuters.
What the lawsuit alleges
According to the lawsuit obtained by The Washington Post, Trump’s legal team claims that three NYT articles – including a pre-election editorial arguing he was unfit for office – and the Penguin-published book “Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success” caused significant harm.
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Among the alleged damages: a drop in the stock price of Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG). “The harm to the value of TMTG is one example of how the Defendants’ defamation has injured President Trump,” the lawsuit says.
Trump also challenges the book’s assertion that he was “discovered” in 2004 by “The Apprentice” producer Mark Burnett, as reported by Politico. The court filing argues that “Trump was already a mega-celebrity and an enormous success in business.” The filing cites his celebrity appearances at WrestleMania V and “Home Alone 2″ as evidence of his stardom.
The Times responds: ‘Without merit’
The New York Times responded to the lawsuit on Tuesday, calling it “without merit” and vowing to “continue to pursue the facts without fear or favor and stand up for journalists’ First Amendment right to ask questions on behalf of the American people.”
The lawsuit follows Trump’s warning last week that he would sue The Times for its reporting on a bawdy 50th birthday note to Jeffrey Epstein featuring Trump’s alleged signature more than two decades ago. Trump denies wrongdoing and says he cut ties with Epstein before his legal issues began in 2006.
Trump announces lawsuit on Truth Social
Trump teased the new lawsuit in a Truth Social post on Monday.
“Today, I have the Great Honor of bringing a $15 Billion Dollar Defamation and Libel Lawsuit against The New York Times,” Trump wrote.
Part of a broader legal strategy
Since returning to office, Trump has aggressively pursued lawsuits against news outlets that he claims are biased against him. Earlier this year, he sued The Wall Street Journal for at least $10 billion over the publication’s coverage of the previously mentioned birthday note to Epstein that features the president’s alleged signature in 2003.
This summer, Trump agreed to settle a lawsuit against CBS parent company Paramount for $16 million. The lawsuit accused CBS of deceptively editing a “60 Minutes” interview with then Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris in October 2024. Trump has also reached a $15 million settlement with ABC News after anchor George Stephanopoulos wrongly claimed that Trump had been found civilly liable for rape, when he was only found civilly liable for sexual abuse by a jury.
