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Former U.S. President Donald Trump has announced his intention to sue The New York Times for $15 billion, alleging defamation and libel.
“The New York Times has been allowed to freely lie, smear, and defame me for far too long, and that stops, NOW!” Trump declared on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Monday.
He specifically cited the Times’ endorsement of Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, claiming the newspaper had become a “mouthpiece for the Radical Left Democrat Party.”
In response, a spokesperson for The New York Times stated that the threatened suit was “an attempt to stifle and discourage independent reporting” and “has no merit.”
“The New York Times will not be deterred by intimidation tactics,” the spokesperson asserted.
Trump indicated that the lawsuit would be filed in Florida, a state considered a Republican stronghold.
He has consistently voiced his disapproval of media outlets he perceives as left-leaning and unfavorable to his presidency.
In a late-night post, Trump criticized the Times’ endorsement of his election rival, stating: “Their Endorsement of Kamala Harris was actually put dead center on the front page of The New York Times, something heretofore UNHEARD OF!”
The same post included accusations against other media outlets and TV programs, alleging they had “smeared” him through “a highly sophisticated system of document and visual alteration.”
Notably, ABC News and Paramount’s CBS News recently reached multimillion-dollar settlements with Trump to resolve lawsuits he had filed against them.
He has also initiated legal action against The Wall Street Journal concerning their reporting on the Epstein scandal.
This is not the first instance of Trump attempting to sue The New York Times.
In 2023, a judge dismissed a previous lawsuit filed by Trump, then a former president, against The New York Times, ruling that the claims “fail as a matter of constitutional law.”
That $100 million lawsuit accused the newspaper and Trump’s estranged niece, Mary Trump, of engaging in “an insidious plot” to obtain his tax records.
The suit, filed in 2021, pertained to a Pulitzer Prize-winning series on Trump’s financial affairs.
Trump also unsuccessfully pursued a defamation claim against CNN in 2023, alleging the network had likened him to Adolf Hitler. A federal judge subsequently dismissed the $475 million lawsuit.
Clarification: This story has been updated to include the lawsuits against ABC News and Paramount which ended with settlements in Trump’s favour.
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