PALM BEACH, Fla. (BN24) — President Donald Trump has filed a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times and four of its journalists, escalating his ongoing battle with the media as he campaigns for reelection.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Florida, accuses the Times of publishing “false and defamatory” claims in several articles and a book written by two of its reporters in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election. According to the filing, the reports were part of “a decades-long pattern by The New York Times of intentional and malicious defamation against President Trump.”
The complaint states that the defendants “published such statements negligently, with knowledge of the falsity of the statements, and/or with reckless disregard of their truth or falsity.”
Trump announced the lawsuit on Truth Social, accusing the Times of acting as “a virtual mouthpiece for the Radical Left Democrat Party” and vowing to hold the paper accountable for what he called deliberate lies aimed at damaging his political standing.
The New York Times did not immediately respond to requests for comment early Tuesday.
This legal action marks Trump’s latest high-profile confrontation with major media outlets. In July, he filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and its owner Rupert Murdoch over reporting that linked him to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump has long accused mainstream media organizations of bias and unfair coverage, frequently using lawsuits and public statements to challenge reporting he claims is false or politically motivated. Legal experts say the $15 billion claim faces steep hurdles due to First Amendment protections and the high bar U.S. law sets for proving defamation against public figures.
Still, the case underscores Trump’s determination to take on media institutions he portrays as hostile as he seeks to consolidate political momentum ahead of the 2026 midterm elections and beyond.
Associated Press story
