President Donald Trump filed a $15 billion defamation lawsuit on Monday against The New York Times and four of its journalists, saying a series of articles and a book published ahead of the 2024 election were false and part of a long-running effort to damage him.
The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Florida, contends that the named Times pieces and a book authored by two of the newspaper's journalists were “part of a decades-long pattern by the New York Times of intentional and malicious defamation against President Trump.” The suit alleges the defendants published the statements “negligently, with knowledge of the falsity of the statements, and/or with reckless disregard of their truth or falsity.”
In a Truth Social post announcing the litigation, Trump accused The New York Times of lying about him and said the paper had become “a virtual ‘mouthpiece’ for the Radical Left Democrat Party.” The Times did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment early Tuesday, according to court filings and Associated Press reporting.
The suit identifies multiple articles and one book published in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election but does not specify all of the alleged falsehoods in its public filing. It seeks $15 billion in compensatory and punitive damages and asks the court to award costs and additional relief.
The new lawsuit follows other high-dollar legal actions by Trump against media organizations. In July, he sued The Wall Street Journal and media executive Rupert Murdoch for $10 billion over reporting that included accounts of his connections to financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Legal experts note that defamation claims brought by public figures face a high bar under U.S. law. The Supreme Court's 1964 decision in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan requires plaintiffs who are public officials or public figures to prove that false statements were made with "actual malice" — that is, with knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth. The complaint filed Monday asserts that standard has been met by the Times and the named journalists.
A federal judge will determine whether the complaint states a legally sufficient claim to proceed. Defamation suits against news organizations often prompt early motions to dismiss on First Amendment grounds, and discovery fights can follow if cases survive initial challenges.
Trump has regularly criticized and sued news organizations, arguing that unfavorable reporting has damaged his reputation and political prospects. Newsroom attorneys and press freedom advocates frequently counter that robust protections for reporting and commentary are essential to the First Amendment and that high-damage awards can chill investigative journalism.
The filing is the latest in a series of legal battles that have extended beyond Trump’s political and criminal matters to his disputes with the press. How the Florida federal court will handle the claims, and whether the case will proceed past preliminary motion practice, remained unclear as of Tuesday.
The Associated Press contributed reporting to this article.