President Donald Trump announced late Monday that he is suing The New York Times for $15 billion, saying the paper engaged in a long-running campaign of defamation and libel.
In a post shared late Monday, Trump called the Times "one of the worst and most degenerate newspapers in the History of our Country" and said bringing the suit was a "great honor." He said the paper had become a "virtual mouthpiece for the Radical Left Democrat Party" and accused it of providing what he described as the "single largest illegal Campaign contribution, EVER."
Trump said the suit will be brought in Florida, where he often resides at his Mar-a-Lago estate. He linked the filing to recent Times reporting about his ties to financier Jeffrey Epstein, including articles that the president has previously said referenced a sexually suggestive note and a drawing he allegedly gave Epstein decades ago. Trump denied those allegations and had threatened last week to sue over the reporting.
The president referenced past and ongoing litigation against other media organizations, calling the Times' conduct part of a "decades long method of lying" about him, his family, his business and the America First movement. He noted a July lawsuit filed against The Wall Street Journal and media executive Rupert Murdoch seeking $10 billion over a separate report, and he cited a recent settlement with Paramount, which he said paid $16 million after he accused the network of deceptively editing an interview on "60 Minutes." Those statements reflect the president's characterizations of those matters.
The Times has published editorial commentary critical of Trump and also ran an endorsement for Vice President Kamala Harris, which the president criticized. In its endorsement, the newspaper's editorial board described Harris as "the only patriotic choice" and said of Trump, "It is hard to imagine a candidate more unworthy to serve as president of the United States than Donald Trump," adding that he had proven himself "morally unfit" and "temperamentally unfit" for the nation's highest office.
The litigation announcement marks the latest high-profile defamation action by Trump against national news organizations. Defamation claims by public figures in the United States must overcome a high legal bar: they generally require proof that a publisher knew a statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth, a standard set by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Trump's post described prior legal efforts as successful and said he was "PROUD to hold this once respected 'rag' responsible," naming networks and outlets he said had settled for previously alleged false reporting. The president's filing plan mirrors his recent practice of bringing suits in Florida state courts.
Neither The New York Times nor its editorial board had publicly responded to the announcement at the time of Trump's statement. The paper has previously defended its reporting and distinguished between news coverage and opinion or editorial content.
The newly announced suit is likely to produce further legal scrutiny of the newspaper's reporting and could extend a pattern of litigation that has involved multiple news organizations. Any civil case will proceed through state court procedures in Florida unless a defendant moves to dismiss or removes the case to federal court, and courts will assess whether Trump's allegations meet the statutory and constitutional standards for defamation.
The Times' reporting on Epstein and people in his orbit has been part of renewed media attention to long-running questions about Epstein's relationships and the conduct of those around him. Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and has disputed specific documents and accounts described in news stories.
The $15 billion figure in Trump's announcement is among the largest monetary amounts alleged in a defamation suit against a news organization. The coming filings will test how state courts handle claims by prominent public figures against large national news outlets and will likely prompt legal and news-industry analysis of reporting practices, editorial separation and standards for publishing contested material.