Trump Hits The New York Times With $15B Libel Lawsuit

President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit in Florida against The New York Times, four of its journalists, and the publishing company Penguin Random House, seeking at least $15 billion in damages. The case accuses them of defamation and libel, alleging that their reporting and publications caused serious harm to his reputation.

The complaint highlights a number of New York Times pieces, including an editorial before the 2024 presidential race that declared him unfit for office, as well as a Penguin-published book from 2024 titled Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success.

“Defendants maliciously published the Book and the Articles knowing that these publications were filled with repugnant distortions and fabrications about President Trump,” the filing states, according to the submission made Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Requests for comment sent to both Penguin Random House and The New York Times outside normal business hours went unanswered.

According to the legal team representing Trump, the articles and the book inflicted major financial harm by damaging both his personal standing and business reputation. They claimed the impact included losses to brand value and potential earnings.

“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,” his attorneys wrote, pointing to “a precipitous decline in the stock price.”

Shares of Trump Media and Technology Group have faced pressure in recent months, partly due to concerns tied to the expiration of a lock-up period following the company’s public listing in March.

“Today, I have the Great Honor of bringing a $15 Billion Dollar Defamation and Libel Lawsuit against The New York Times,” Trump posted on Truth Social earlier Monday.

In the same post, he accused the paper of spreading lies not only about himself, but also about his family, businesses, and Republican-aligned movements such as America First and Make America Great Again.

This legal action is part of a larger offensive against media outlets during Trump’s second term. Earlier this year, he filed a $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and its parent company, including Rupert Murdoch, over an article alleging his name appeared on a 2003 birthday message for Jeffrey Epstein.

In July, Paramount, the parent company of CBS, agreed to settle a case after Trump accused 60 Minutes of misleadingly editing an interview with then–Vice President Kamala Harris that aired in October.

“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. 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. 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!”

{Matzav.com}