Trump sues the New York Times for defamation and slander
The complaint also targets the publishing house Penguin Random House.
BarcelonaThis Monday, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, filed a lawsuit against the New York Times, four of its reporters, and the publisher Penguin Random House for at least $15 billion, alleging defamation and slander. According to a court document filed in Florida, the president claims the defendants have caused him reputational damage. Specifically, Trump's lawsuit cites a series of articles from the New York Times, including an editorial prior to the 2024 presidential election that claimed he was unfit for office. It also mentions a book published by the publisher in 2024 titled Lucky loser: how Donald Trump squandered his father's fortune and created the illusion of success [Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father's Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success]
"The defendants maliciously published the book and articles knowing that these publications were filled with disgusting distortions and fabrications about President Trump," says the request filed this Monday in the Middle District Court of Florida. Thus, Trump's lawyers, according to Reuters, argue that the publications would have damaged Trump's business and personal reputation and this would have caused "massive" economic damage to "his brand value" and "significant" harm to his future financial prospects.
The complaint comes after Trump last week threatened to sue the New York Times for reporting on a sexually suggestive note and drawing he allegedly gave to child sex predator Jeffrey Epstein. Trump, however, maintains he distanced himself from Epstein before the financier's legal troubles became public in 2006.
In his second term, Trump has escalated his crackdown on media companies. Earlier this year, he filed a lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and its owners, including Rupert Murdoch, of at least $10 billion over the newspaper's report that his name appeared on a 2003 birthday card from Epstein. In July, CBS's parent company, Paramount, agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by Trump that alleged he alleged 60 minutes had deceptively edited an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris that the network had aired in October.