Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump filed a $15 billion defamation lawsuit on Monday against The New York Times, four of its reporters and publisher Penguin Random House, saying their coverage and a recent book falsely damaged his personal and business reputation.
The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Florida, points to a series of New York Times articles, including an editorial before the 2024 presidential election that said he was unfit for office, and to a 2024 Penguin book titled “Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success.”
Trump’s attorneys say the publications “maliciously published the Book and the Articles knowing that these publications were filled with repugnant distortions and fabrications about President Trump,” according to the filing.
The lawsuit alleges that the reporting and the book caused massive economic harm, damaging both Trump’s brand and his financial prospects. “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 filing said, citing a “precipitous decline in the stock price.”
Trump discussed the filing in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. In the post, he accused the paper of long-running falsehoods about him and his movement.
“Today, I have the Great Honor of bringing a $15 Billion Dollar Defamation and Libel Lawsuit against The New York Times, one of the worst and most degenerate newspapers in the History of our Country, becoming a virtual ‘mouthpiece’ for the Radical Left Democrat Party,” Trump wrote.
“I view it as the single largest illegal Campaign contribution, EVER. Their Endorsement of Kamala Harris was actually put dead center on the front page of The New York Times, something heretofore UNHEARD OF! The “Times” has engaged in a decades long method of lying about your Favorite President (ME!), my family, business, the America First Movement, MAGA, and our Nation as a whole,” he continued.
“I am PROUD to hold this once respected “rag” responsible, as we are doing with the Fake News Networks such as our successful litigation against George Slopadopoulos/ABC/Disney, and 60 Minutes/CBS/Paramount, who knew that they were falsely “smearing” me through a highly sophisticated system of document and visual alteration, which was, in effect, a malicious form of defamation, and thus, settled for record amounts. They practiced this longterm INTENT and pattern of abuse, which is both unacceptable and illegal. The New York Times has been allowed to freely lie, smear, and defame me for far too long, and that stops, NOW! The suit is being brought in the Great State of Florida. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” the president concluded.