(LifeSiteNews) — President Donald Trump announced on Monday he has filed a $15 billion libel suit against the New York Times for its critical coverage of his family’s business ventures, calling it the “single largest illegal Campaign contribution, EVER.”
“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 on Truth Social.
“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.
The suit names the Times, Penguin Random House, and NYT reporters Peter Baker, Russ Buettner, Susanne Craig, and Michael Schmidt, regarding Buettner and Craig’s 2024 book Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success (published by Penguin) and a trio of critical articles the paper published about Trump prior to the election.
These works, the suit maintains, were “a malicious, defamatory, and disparaging book written by two of its reporters and three false, malicious, defamatory, and disparaging articles, all carefully crafted by Defendants, with actual malice, calculated to inflict maximum damage upon President Trump, and all published during the height of a Presidential Election that became the most consequential in American history”; in order to “(a) damage President Trump’s hard-earned and world-renowned reputation for business success, (b) in the process, sabotage his 2024 candidacy for President of the United States, and (c) prejudice judges and juries in the unlawful cases brought against President Trump, his family, and his businesses by his political opponents for purposes of election interference.”
The president seeks $15 billion in “compensatory damages,” plus punitive damages and legal costs.
“This lawsuit has no merit. It lacks any legitimate legal claims and instead is an attempt to stifle and discourage independent reporting,” the Times responded. “The New York Times will not be deterred by intimidation tactics. We will continue to pursue the facts without fear or favor and stand up for journalists’ First Amendment right to ask questions on behalf of the American people.”
“Penguin Random House stands by the book and its authors and will continue to uphold the values of the First Amendment that are fundamental to our role as a book publisher,” added a Penguin spokesperson, who also called the suit “meritless.”
Trump has sued numerous media outlets on defamation grounds, with some success. He secured a $16 million settlement with CBS parent company Paramount in July and a $15 million settlement from ABC News in December 2024. He is also suing the Wall Street Journal and the Des Moines Register (plus the latter’s parent company Gannett), in fights that have yet to be resolved.