President Donald Trump has sued the New York Times and four of its reporters for at least $15billion claiming defamation and libel, accusing the paper of being a virtual “mouthpiece” for the “Radical Left Democrat Party.”
The suit cites a series of articles from the publication, one an editorial prior to the 2024 presidential election, which said he was unfit for office.
President Trump also sued publisher Penguin Random House for a 2024 book titled “Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success”.
According to the filing lodged in the District Court in Middle District Florida, he said: “Defendants maliciously published the Book and the Articles knowing that these publications were filled with repugnant distortions and fabrications about President Trump.”
The President’s lawyers said in the filing the publications have harmed Trump’s business and personal reputation, thereby causing massive economic damage to his brand value and significant damage to his future financial prospects.
A statement from President Trump’s legal team said: “The harm to the value of TMTG (Trump Media and Technology Group) stock is one example of how the Defendants’ defamation has injured President Trump”.
The lawsuit cited “a precipitous decline in the stock price.”
Last week, President Trump threatened last week to sue the New York Times for its reporting on an alleged sexually suggestive note and drawing given to Jeffrey Epstein.
Donald Trump has ramped up his attacks on traditional media outlets
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The President has sued The New York Times
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GETTYMr Trump seemed to confirm the lawsuit in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
He wrote: “Today, I have the Great Honor of bringing a $15billion Dollar Defamation and Libel Lawsuit against The New York Times.”
In his second term, the President has ramped up his crackdown against media companies.
Earlier this year he sued the Wall Street Journal and its owners, including Rupert Murdoch, for at least $10billion over the newspaper’s report that his name was on a 2003 birthday greeting for notorious paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein.
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The Wall Street Journal was sued by The President
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In July, Paramount agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by President Trump for $16million after he took aim at CBS.
The Republican had alleged that the CBS News programme “60 Minutes” deceptively edited an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris that the network broadcast in October.
Echoing President Trump’s calls, former Prime Minister Liz Truss told GB News presenter Ben Leo the ex-PM that traditional news organisations had created what she called a “truth-free zone” in their coverage of major issues.
She said: “There were lots of smears on me, suggesting everything was my fault which simply isn’t true… How can the country’s problems be addressed if people aren’t prepared to tell the truth?”
The CBS News programme “60 Minutes” drew ire from Mr Trump
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The President’s attack on CBS was let with outcry from senior Democrats, who called it a “dark day for independent journalism and freedom of the press.”
Veteran Democrat senator for Vermont, Bernie Sanders, said: “Trump is undermining our democracy and rapidly moving us towards authoritarianism, and the billionaires who care more about their stock portfolios than our democracy are helping him do it.”
Mr Trump has continued attacking, suing and intimidating traditional media outlets, which the US President has repeatedly labeled “the enemy of the people.”
The head of Reporters Without Borders, Clayton Weimers, said: “A line is being drawn between the owners of American news media who are willing to stand up for press freedom, and those who capitulate to the demands of the President.”
Long-serving US Senator Bernie Sanders is an outspoken critic of Mr Trump’s attacks on the media
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GETTYIn particular, President Trump has targeted the Associated Press (AP), which has seen its reporters banned from the White House and Air Force One.
The fallout started when President Trump ordered the Gulf of Mexico to be renamed to the “Gulf of America”.
Reporters from the AP continued to use both names, noting that the rest of the world still uses the original, causing the Republican to ban the news agency from access to the usual press huddle.
The AP sued Mr Trump, however the ban remains mostly in place.
