US President Donald Trump has stated that he will file a $15 billion defamation and libel lawsuit against The New York Times.
In a statement dated Monday, September 15, 2025, Trump accused the paper of long-running bias and what he called a decades-long campaign of “lying” about him, his family, and the “Make America Great Again” movement.
“Today, I have the Great Honor of bringing a $15 billion defamation and Libel Lawsuit against The New York Times, one of the worst and most degenerate newspapers in the History of our Country, becoming a virtual ‘mouthpiece’ for the Radical Left Democrat Party,” Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform.
In the post, he stated that the suit would be brought in Florida and described the case as one of the most significant media challenges in US history.
Trump Threatens to Sue New York Times
Trump specifically pointed to the Times’ endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, which he said amounted to an “illegal campaign contribution.” He also accused the paper of systematically targeting him, his family, his businesses, and the MAGA movement.
The former president compared the case to what he described as “successful litigation” against other outlets, including ABC News and CBS’s 60 Minutes, which he claimed had settled past disputes for “record amounts.”
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Trump further alleged that The New York Times has a long history of publishing false claims about him and insisted he would not allow the paper to escape accountability this time.
He described the outlet’s reporting as part of a “long-term pattern of abuse” that he called both unacceptable and illegal.
“The New York Times has been allowed to freely lie, smear, and defame me for far too long, and that stops, now! The suit is being brought in the Great State of Florida. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Make America Great Again!,” said the US President.
Past Cases of the US President and New York Times
This is not the first time Donald Trump has sued The New York Times. In 2021, he filed a $100 million lawsuit against the newspaper, several of its reporters, and his niece, Mary Trump. He alleged that they conspired to publish confidential tax documents, claiming this was a violation of a settlement agreement.
In May 2023, a New York judge dismissed the claims against The Times and its reporters, ruling that their reporting was protected under the First Amendment. The judge concluded that Trump’s claims “fail as a matter of constitutional law.” As a result, Trump was ordered to pay nearly $400,000 in legal fees to The Times and the reporters involved.
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Additionally, Trump’s campaign filed a lawsuit against The New York Times in 2020 over a 2019 opinion piece titled “The Real Trump-Russia Quid Pro Quo” by Max Frankel. The campaign claimed that the piece falsely alleged a conspiracy with Russia, which, they argued, harmed Trump’s chances of reelection in 2020.
That case was also dismissed, as the judge ruled that the opinion piece was legally protected and that the campaign failed to prove “actual malice,” which is a required standard in U.S. defamation law when the plaintiff is a public figure.
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