Trump files $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times
By Brian Stelter, Hanna Park, CNN
(CNN) — President Donald Trump says he is filing an audacious lawsuit against The New York Times, alleging defamation and accusing the outlet of being a “virtual mouthpiece” for the Democratic Party.
The lawsuit demands $15 billion in damages, which exceeds the entire market cap of The New York Times Company, and claims Trump is leading an effort to “restore integrity to journalism.”
The suit is the latest example of what First Amendment experts have described as a presidential strategy to silence critical news coverage and curb free speech by filing nuisance lawsuits.
While the Times immediately signaled that it would fight the suit, the Committee to Protect Journalists observed that “these types of defamation suits send a chilling message and can entangle news media in time-consuming and costly legal processes.”
The defamation suit against The Times also names book publisher Penguin Random House and four Times reporters, two of whom wrote a book for Penguin, titled “Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success.”
The 85-page suit reads at times like a pro-Trump op-ed, with page after page of gushing praise for the president and repeated references to lawsuits he has filed against other media outlets. Media lawyers immediately expressed skepticism about Trump’s chances of prevailing.
“This lawsuit has no merit,” The Times said in a statement. “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 president trumpeted the filing of the suit in a Truth Social post late Monday night. He accused the Times — a publication that he both covets and often criticizes — of making false statements about him, his family and his businesses. He called the filing of the suit in federal court in Tampa, Florida, a “great honor.”
CNN reviewed a copy of the lawsuit but could not immediately confirm that it had been received by the court.
“The New York Times has been allowed to freely lie, smear, and defame me for far too long, and that stops, NOW!” he added, while singling out the Times’ endorsement of Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election.
Endorsing someone else for president does not qualify as an act of defamation, however, and Trump’s legal team will have a hard time proving the charges leveled in the lawsuit.
To win a libel lawsuit, public figures like Trump must show “actual malice,” meaning the defendants knew the statements were false or acted with reckless disregard for their truth.
Media analysts have asserted that Trump’s real intent, with some of his lawsuits, is to garner PR and publicly embarrass news outlets, with winning or losing in court being a secondary consideration at best.
Floyd Abrams, one of the country’s most renowned First Amendment attorneys in the past 50 years, told CNN that “the suit is ridiculous as a matter of law but extraordinarily dangerous as a matter of national policy.
“It threatens core First Amendment principles in a manner unique in our history,” Abrams said.
The Times is certainly well-prepared for a legal tussle with Trump. The publication has rebuffed his legal threats many times, including as recently as last week. And Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger has spent the past year drawing attention to what he calls the “anti-press playbook” being deployed by “aspiring strongmen” around the world.
On Monday evening, a few hours before Trump announced the lawsuit, Sulzberger said in a speech that part of the playbook is to “exploit the civil courts to impose financial pressure” and “punish independent journalists.”
Sulzberger addressed the Investigative Reporters & Editors’ 50th anniversary gala in New York City and urged the other “media leaders” in attendance to “stand up for your journalism. Stand up for your journalists. Stand up for your rights.”
Journalism advocacy groups warned that by settling, rather than defending themselves against Trump in court, ABC and CBS were emboldening Trump to keep up his legal campaign.
Trump is also currently suing The Wall Street Journal and reporters who wrote a story about a collection of letters gifted to Jeffrey Epstein. A spokesperson for Dow Jones, the Journal’s parent company, said “we have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”
The suit against The Times repeats the charge that the Journal “falsely” claimed that Trump “authored, drew, and signed a card to wish the late—and utterly disgraced—Epstein a happy fiftieth birthday.”
The birthday letter in question was recently released by a House committee, though Trump continues to claim it is a hoax. The Epstein reference in this week’s new lawsuit might give the Times an opening to question Trump about the matter if the case proceeds to the deposition phase.
CNN’s Liam Reilly contributed reporting.
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