U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that he will file a $15 billion lawsuit against The New York Times, accusing the newspaper of being “one of the most depraved media outlets” and “a true mouthpiece of the Democratic Party.” In an extensive post on his Truth Social platform, Trump claimed that the newspaper “has been spreading lies for decades” about him, his family, his business, the America First movement, his MAGA political base, and “the nation as a whole.
” The president said he was proud to be “holding this once-respected smear sheet accountable” and confirmed that he plans to file the lawsuit in the state of Florida on charges of defamation and libel, seeking compensation equivalent to €12.75 billion. “The New York Times has been allowed to lie, defame, and slander for far too long, and that stops NOW,” Trump wrote. So far, the newspaper itself has not issued any official comment on the president’s announcement.
Trump also accused the outlet of openly supporting Democratic candidate Kamala Harris during the last presidential campaign, which he described as “the greatest illegal election fraud of all time.” In his post, he reiterated that his goal is to “restore the truth” and “defend the American people from media attacks orchestrated by political interests.”
This is not the first time Trump has taken legal action against media organizations. He has previously filed lawsuits against networks such as CBS and ABC, which ended in multimillion-dollar out-of-court settlements. However, his critics argue that these lawsuits are an attempt to intimidate the press and restrict freedom of expression. Trump’s confrontation with critical media has escalated in recent months.
He has intensified his verbal attacks on various news agencies and, in a controversial move, barred Associated Press (AP) reporters from traveling on the presidential plane after they refused to adopt his proposed new name for the Gulf of Mexico: “Gulf of America.” With this new legal offensive, Trump is once again challenging one of the world’s most influential newspapers, marking another chapter in his long-running war against the mainstream media.
