In brief
In a bold move, Donald Trump has declared his intent to sue the New York Times for $15 billion, alleging defamation and libel. He criticizes the newspaper for biased reporting, specifically about its endorsement of Kamala Harris during the recent presidential election, calling the Times a 'mouthpiece for the Radical Left Democrat Party'. Trump plans to file the lawsuit in Florida, continuing his long-standing feud with media outlets he views as unfavorable. This is not the first legal challenge he has made against the Times, which has previously seen cases dismissed by the courts.
US President Donald Trump has stated he will sue the New York Times for $15 billion (£11 billion) over what he claims are instances of 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! he expressed on his Truth Social platform on Monday.
The former president criticized the Times specifically for endorsing Kamala Harris in the last presidential election, asserting it has become a mouthpiece for the Radical Left Democrat Party.
Trump revealed that the lawsuit would be filed in Florida, a state known for its Republican loyalty. The BBC has requested a comment from the New York Times regarding this development.
Trump has a history of expressing frustration over what he perceives as hostility from left-leaning media. He pointed out that the endorsement of Harris was noticeably placed on the front page of the Times, labeling it an unprecedented event.
In earlier statements, Trump accused various media outlets of smearing him, alleging a coordinated effort to manipulate public perception through altered documents and visuals.
This lawsuit is not Trump’s first confrontation with the New York Times, as a previous attempt to sue was dismissed in 2023 due to constitutional law stipulations. That case involved a $100 million lawsuit alleging a conspiracy to obtain his tax records, linked to a Pulitzer Prize-winning story about his financial affairs.
In 2023, Trump faced another legal setback when a judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit against CNN, where he claimed he had been wrongly compared to Adolf Hitler, with the case being thrown out by a federal judge.
