The New York Times on Tuesday condemned US President Donald Trump for filing a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against the newspaper and book publisher Penguin Random House, describing the move as “an attempt to stifle independent reporting.”
“This lawsuit has no merit. It lacks any legitimate legal claims and instead is an attempt to stifle and discourage independent reporting,” the Times said in a statement.
“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,” it wrote.
On Monday, Trump accused The New York Times and four of its reporters of defaming him ahead of the 2024 election claiming that a series of articles sought to undermine his candidacy and disparage his reputation as a successful businessman.
A document showed that the lawsuit was filed on Monday in the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
The lawsuit centers on a book about Trump by two New York Times reporters and three “false, malicious, defamatory, and disparaging” articles that he says were aimed at sabotaging his chances in the 2024 presidential election.
According to the complaint, the articles and the book caused “enormous” economic losses and damage to his “professional and occupational interests.”
The defendants named in the suit were The New York Times Company and Susanne Craig, Russ Buettner, Peter Baker and Michael S. Schmidt. The complaint also named Penguin Random House, which published a book about Trump written by Craig and Buettner, as a defendant.
The complaint claims that the defendants timed the publication of the articles and books “at the height of election season to inflict maximum electoral damage against President Trump.”
On Monday, Trump said in a post on Truth Social that, “The New York Times has been allowed to freely lie, smear, and defame me for far too long, and that stops, NOW!”
“Today, I have the Great Honor of bringing a $15 Billion Dollar Defamation and Libel Lawsuit against The New York Times,” he added.
Trump also called the Times “one of the worst and most degenerate newspapers in the nation’s history” and a virtual mouthpiece for Democrats. He cited a series of articles, including the paper’s front-page endorsement of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the lead-up to the 2024 election.
“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,” Trump wrote in his post.
Trump has intensified his legal attacks on the media during his second term.
In July, he sued the Wall Street Journal and its owners for $10 billion over the newspaper's coverage of Trump's ties to financier and child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Journal has said the lawsuit is meritless.
