President Donald Trump said on Monday that he will sue the New York Times for $15 billion, accusing the newspaper of defamation and libel and saying the publication has been allowed to "freely lie, smear, and defame" him for years.
Trump posted the announcement on his social media platform, Truth Social, saying the lawsuit would be launched in Florida and singling out the Times’ endorsement of Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. "Their Endorsement of Kamala Harris was actually put dead center on the front page of The New York Times, something heretofore UNHEARD OF!" he wrote, adding that the paper had become a "mouthpiece for the Radical Left Democrat Party."
The president also renewed broader allegations that other media outlets and television programs have smeared him through what he described as "a highly sophisticated system of document and visual alteration." The BBC has reached out to the New York Times for comment.
Legal experts note that libel cases brought by public figures face a high constitutional bar under U.S. law. Since the 1964 Supreme Court decision in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, plaintiffs who are public officials or public figures must show that a defendant published false statements with "actual malice" — knowingly false or with reckless disregard for the truth — to prevail.
The announced suit follows a string of earlier, unsuccessful legal efforts by Trump against media organizations. In 2023, a federal judge dismissed a $100 million lawsuit that Trump filed against the New York Times and his niece, Mary Trump, over reporting that relied on his tax records. The judge said the claims "fail as a matter of constitutional law." That earlier case, filed in 2021, was tied to a Pulitzer Prize-winning series on Trump's financial affairs.
Trump also lost a separate defamation bid in 2023 when he sought to sue CNN for $475 million, alleging the network likened him to Adolf Hitler. A federal judge threw out that lawsuit as well.
In making his latest threat, Trump reiterated a long-standing complaint about what he says is unfavorable coverage from left-leaning media outlets. The president has repeatedly used both public statements and litigation threats to contest reporting he views as politically motivated.
If the new suit is filed, it would mark another high-profile legal confrontation between the White House and a major U.S. news organization. The choice of Florida as the filing venue aligns with the state’s role as a political and legal base for Trump, who has frequently initiated litigation there.
The Times, which is among the country’s most widely read newspapers, endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race, a point Trump cited in his social media post. News organizations and legal analysts have said that while editorial endorsements are a long-established part of newspaper practice, they are generally not themselves grounds for defamation claims.
Trump’s announcement did not include the filing of a complaint or supporting documents setting out the factual basis for the $15 billion demand. Until documents are filed and made public, legal observers will have access only to the president’s public statements about the planned action.
A spokesman for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for further details. The New York Times did not immediately comment when contacted. The outcome of any such lawsuit would likely hinge on whether the president can meet the "actual malice" standard and on the specific allegations and evidence presented in a court filing.